REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 


LOUISE 


REVELATIONS 
OF  LOUISE 

BY 

ALBERT  S.  CROCKETT 


WITH  TWO  BLACK-AND-WHITE  ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


All  Rights  Reserved 


TO  HER 

WHOSE  SORROWS  I  HAVE  SHARED 

AND  WHOSE  HAPPINESS 

MAKES  MINE 


2134785 ' 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT 

IN  the  days  between  the  publication  of  the  false 
report  and  the  actual  signing  of  the  Armistice,  I 
had  come  home  from  Washington  to  wait — the 
second  journey  up  from  the  Capital  during  the  week. 
The  other  had  been  occasioned  by  a  telegram  from 
Denver  telling  us  that  the  daughter  we  loved,  and  of 
whom  had  just  come  hopeful  reports,  had  small 
chance;  that  if  we  wished  her  to  see  home  again  we 
had  better  come  for  her  immediately. 

Her  mother  went.  Duties  called  me  back  to  Wash- 
ington, but  on  Saturday  I  came  home  again  to  get 
word  to  open  the  house  in  the  country,  so  much  loved 
by  her  and  by  us  all,  for  her  reception.  I  did  not  leave 
home  all  day.  News  was  due  before  noon,  and  as  that 
passed  and  the  afternoon  wore  on  and  no  message 
came,  I  sensed  the  blow  that  was  coming.  When  I 
returned  to  the  apartment  from  a  hurried  dinner,  a 
telegram  lay  inside  the  door.  The  end  had  come  with- 
in a  few  hours  after  the  reunion  of  mother  and  daugh- 
ter. 

Naturally  my  own  sorrow  could  not  compare  with 
a  mother's.  True,  I  was  "Daddy"  though,  after  all,  I 
was  only  a  step-father,  though  she  was  as  my  own 
child.  But  the  attachment  between  her  mother  and 
Louise  was  of  unusual  strength.  The  former  lived  in 
her  daughter  and  Louise  worshiped  her  mother.  They 
seemed  like  girls  of  the  same  age.  Our  only  son  had 
been  in  France  for  more  than  a  year  and  the  shock 

vii 


viii          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

of  the  news  of  his  being  wounded  near  Chateau 
Thierry,  and  the  suspense  while  waiting  for  details 
had  been  almost  too  much  for  a  woman  whose  heart 
had  been  worn  by  nearly  three  years  of  anxiety  and 
dread.  What  could  be  done  to  help  her  in  this  fresh, 
soul-crushing  woe?  Neither  of  us  knew  the  consola- 
tion which  some  might  find  in  religion,  and  her  bur- 
den seemed  greater  than  a  frail  woman  could  bear. 

Those  days  seem  long  past  and  unreal.  And  so 
much  has  come  into  our  lives  that  is  strange — even 
startling — so  much  that  is  joy-giving  and  inspiring, 
that  we  feel  we  must  tell  the  story.  Our  hope  is  that 
those  who  have  loved  .and  have  seen  their  heart's  trea- 
sure go  beyond  may  gain  comfort  from  the  story  of 
Louise ;  that  they  may  find  solace  that  comes  from  the 
assurance  that  their  beloved  dead  still  live,  are  with 
them  constantly,  share  their  joys,  strive  to  lighten 
their  sorrows,  and  are  trying  to  communicate  with 
them.  If  we  shall  succeed  only  in  sowing  seeds  of 
comfort,  we  shall  feel  we  have  done  well  and  fulfilled 
the  obligation  that  Louise  has  laid  upon  us  to  tell 
what  we  have  been  told  about  the  Life  that  Endures. 

One  who  takes  up  this  book  with  the  thought  of 
finding  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  scientific  investiga- 
tion will  be  disappointed.  Cold  Science  undoubtedly 
has  its  place,  and  justly  so,  as  an  investigator,  analyst, 
judge  of  values  and  recorder  of  progress.  But  we 
did  not  start  out  to  make  discoveries;  and  accident, 
or  the  design  of  some  power  or  force  outside  our- 
selves, must  be  credited  or  blamed — for  there  will  be 
blame — if  we  shall  add  anything  to  what  is  known  or 
believed  of  psychical  phenomena.  We  have  not  com- 
municated our  story  to  any  Psychical  Society,  for  our 
sole  purpose  until  long  after  we  had  begun  to  have 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  ix 

experiences  in  which  no  accredited  "medium"  took 
part,  was  merely  the  selfish  seeking  after  that  which 
might  soothe  the  aching  of  our  own  hearts  rather 
than  to  find  something  that  might  serve  others.  While 
my  own  acquaintance  with  psychical  literature  is 
limited,  I  have  been  informed  that  ours  was  the  only 
case  in  America  where  the  major  portion  of  what  was 
heard,  seen  and  otherwise  experienced  was  obtained 
through  the  accidental  employment  of  one  who  had  not 
the  slightest  idea  she  was  a  medium — a  child  just 
turning  thirteen,  and  to  whom  could  not  be  attached 
an  iota  of  the  charge  commonly  made  against  profes- 
sional mediums,  that  she  hypnotized  us  or  tricked  us 
into  seeing  and  hearing  things  because  that  was  the 
way  she  made  her  living! 

However,  even  the  accredited  investigator  in  mat- 
ters psychical  finds  an  incredulous  public.  Men  whose 
literary  and  scientific  attainments  have  built  up  great 
reputations  have  succeeded  in  carrying  some  of  the 
weight  of  their  names  into  spiritualistic  discussions 
and  argument;  but  with  the  great  public,  after  all, 
those  reputations  have  served  to  attract  curiosity  and 
sell  books  and  magazines,  rather  than  to  convince. 
What  coldness  and  suspicion  must  await  the  novice 
who  seeks  to  tell,  not  of  experiments,  but  of  what  he 
knows  to  be  facts  and  happenings,  when  those  same 
facts  and  happenings  are  contrary  to  what  most  peo- 
ple believe  to  be  humanly  or  otherwise  possible! 

For  he  who  sponsors  this  narrative  frankly  admits 
that  his  name,  as  such,  carries  no  weight.  Practically 
all  his  journalistic  experience  was  acquired  in  anony- 
mous schools — as  they  were  in  his  time — the  old  Phil- 
adelphia Times,  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer,  the  New 
York  Herald,  the  New  York  Sun  and  the  New  York 


x  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Times — and  except  in  the  case  of  fugitive  contribu- 
tions to  periodicals,  his  name  has  never  appeared  as 
the  author  of  anything.  But  he  feels  that  there  are 
circumstances  that  might  support  his  claim  to  being 
a  truthful  person  and  a  credible  witness. 

Eight  years  as  a  school  teacher,  sixteen  years  as  a 
newspaper  reporter  and  correspondent  in  many  coun- 
tries, two  years  in  publicity  work  and  almost  two  years 
in  the  Government  service  might  ordinarily  be  con- 
sidered training  that  should  open  a  man's  eyes  to  the 
frailties  of  human  nature,  and  teach  him  never  to 
accept  phenomena  at  their  face  value.  A  long  ex- 
perience in  assisting  to  expose  frauds  should  serve  to 
make  such  a  one  at  least  skeptical.  I  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  asserting  that  nobody  under  whom  I  have 
worked  in  any  capacity  has  ever  had  reason  to  question 
my  truthfulness  or  honesty,  and  while  that  fact  is  no 
guarantee  that  I  have  not  since  become  mentally  or 
morally  perverted,  an  impartial  jury  would  attach  a 
certain  value  to  such  testimony.  And — though  this 
may  be  beside  the  mark — the  comments  of  magazine 
editors,  or  their  lack  of  comment,  upon  a  procession 
of  what  I  fondly  thought  were  children  of  my  fancy 
that  during  long  years  pilgrimaged  about,  invariably 
finding  their  only  insurance  against  the  waste-basket 
in  the  return  postage  I  had  providently  enclosed,  con- 
vinced me  that  I  could  not  turn  out  fiction.  And  so, 
matters  of  imagination  and  style  I  must  leave  to  those 
skilled  in  their  use,  and  I  shall  have  to  trust  to  a  plain 
recording  of  fact,  such  as  has  always  been  my  habit 
in  writing  for  newspapers. 

But  I  believe  I  can  assert  without  fear  of  successful 
contradiction  that  nobody  ever  approached  the  unknown 
with  a  more  insistent  demand  for  proof;  and  doubt 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  xi 

lingered  until  finally  I  was  furnished  with  actual  mani- 
festations of  power  I  believe  to  be  extra-human  and 
beyond  what  we  ordinarily  think  of  as  natural,  and 
which  satisfied  my  vision,  my  sense  of  touch,  and  my 
reason. 

In  the  light  of  what  we  have  been  told  by  a  method 
I  consider  reasonably  orderly,  as  well  as  consecutive 
and  culminative,  I  believe  that  Love  is  the  great  tie 
that  binds  us  individually  to  those  gone  beyond.  I  am 
convinced  that  the  yearning  of  those  who  have  broken 
the  earth-tie  to  communicate  with  those  dear  to  them 
in  this  life,  and  the  longing  of  those  left  behind  to 
know  that  ashes  are  not  all  that  is  left  of  their  be- 
loved, that  somewhere  out  there  these  still  live ;  wheth- 
er they  are  happy,  and  whether,  in  these  days  when 
so  many  "impossible"  things  come  to  pass,  it  is  not 
possible  to  get  just  a  word  of  reassurance  and  hope, 
are  two  great  forces  that  actually  make  communication 
possible.  It  is  like  the  positive  and  negative  electrodes 
of  an  electrical  device.  Join  the  two,  and  the  current 
flows. 

Investigators  such  as  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  and  Sir 
Conan  Doyle  have  dwelt  upon  the  reasons  why  just 
now  there  seem  to  be  such  great  possibilities  for  con- 
verse between  the  spirit  plane  and  ours.  During  the 
years  of  the  Great  War  and  since,  so  many  of  the 
young  and  the  vigorous,  whose  claim  upon  life  was 
strong,  whose  affections  powerful,  have  been  swept 
suddenly  out  of  this  existence  in  battle  or  by  plague 
that  the  collective  force  of  fresh  motive  power  on  the 
other  side  assumed  tremendous  proportions  and  would 
not  be  denied.  On  the  other  hand,  shock  and  grief 
over  tragic  bereavement,  the  longing  to  know  what 
has  happened,  other  than  mere  death,  to  beloved  chil- 


xii  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

dren,  husbands,  wives  and  parents,  have  registered  an 
extraordinary  impression  upon  the  Beyond.  Thus 
we  have  two  impulses  of  this  character  stronger  than1 
ever  before  known  and  they  are  seeking  each  other. 
This  is  a  theory  of  men  of  science  who  inquire  into 
reasons;  it  is  also  the  belief  of  humbler  individuals 
who  have  sought  in  the  hope  of  finding. 

In  setting  forth  this  relation,  we  are  not  assuming 
the  role  of  apostles  of  a  faith  or  founders  of  a  creed. 
To  deny  that  spirits  have  manifested  themselves;  that 
they  have  talked  with  men  and  have  appeared  to  them ; 
that  they  have  entered  the  bodies  of  human  beings,  is 
to  deny  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the  New.  The 
point  made  by  a  great  many  persons  of  what  is  termed 
orthodox  faith  is  that  while  Moses  may  have  talked 
directly  with  God,  and  Christ  have  raised  Himself 
from  the  dead,  and  Paul  have  been  converted  by  a 
voice  from  Heaven,  the  day  of  miracles  and  manifes- 
tations of  spirits  is  long  past.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
much  of  what  is  called  science  proceeds  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  Christ  was  an  egomaniac  or  a  fanatic, 
if  not  a  myth,  and  that  Christianity  itself  is  opposed 
to  enlightenment;  that  anything  which  tends  to  a  be- 
lief in  the  impermanence  of  everything  visible  and  the 
permanence  of  the  invisible  is  a  reversion  to  those 
Middle  Ages  when,  as  certain  historians  would  teach 
us  to  believe,  the  Church  locked  up  learning  in  the 
monasteries  because  it  feared  to  let  the  layman  think 
for  himself.  To-day,  the  average  man  in  business  does 
not  want  to  be  troubled  by  thoughts  of  a  hereafter. 
The  professional  man  reasons  away  from  it.  Science, 
when  it  is  not  inventing  fiendish  methods  for  depopu- 
lating the  world  in  war,  devotes  itself  to  making  the 
earth  as  attractive  as  possible  and  postponing  the  day 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  xiii 

when  one  need  quit  it.  If  you  say  "psychical"  to  the 
average  physician,  he  will  immediately  take  a  squint  at 
the  pupils  of  your  eyes,  and  perhaps  suggest  a  rest 
cure.  With  the  average  man  the  single  test  applied  to 
the  unknown  is,  "I  cannot  see,  ergo,  it  doesn't  exist." 
The  "subconsciousness,"  itself  an  attractive  and  fertile 
field  for  investigation,  has  been  shell-holed  by  the  care- 
less, the  ignorant,  the  unthinking  and  the  intolerant 
into  an  abysmal  dumping-pit,  to  which  is  consigned 
every  phenomenon  that  happens  not  to  square  with 
rules  of  thumb.  And  still,  the  memory  of  Galileo  and 
Columbus  survives! 

When  I  was  about  half-way  through  this  book,  I 
decided  to  try  an  experiment.  I  wrote  to  a  number 
of  men  who  have  known  me  for  years.  Most  of  them 
I  have  worked  under  or  with.  I  told  them  I  expected 
to  say  something  in  print  on  a  psychical  subject,  and 
that,  in  consequence,  my  truthfulness  and  even  sanity 
would  probably  be  questioned.  Their  testimony  that 
they  had  known  me  in  the  past  as  a  credible  witness 
was  flattering  from  its  unanimity.  However,  in  cer- 
tain replies  there  was  something  more  than  a  note  of 
concern.  While  one  man  whose  private  secretary  I 
was  during  a  diplomatic  mission  to  a  foreign  capital 
cordially  assured  me  he  would  give  credence  to  any 
statement  of  fact  I  should  make,  others  warned  me 
against  the  danger  of  taking  up  "ghost-raising"  and 
one  advised  me  against  doing  anything  that  might 
cause  doubt  as  to  my  sanity  and  truthfulness.  And  I 
believe  all  these  men  wrote  in  a  thorough  spirit  of 
friendliness.  I  recall  that  I  myself,  when  I  inter- 
viewed my  first  psychical  research  exponent,  some 
twenty  years  ago,  went  back  to  the  office  convinced 
I  had  been  talking  to  a  crazy  man,  and  I  am  afraid 


xiv  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

that  any  one  who  read  that  interview  must  have  come 
to  the  same  conclusion. 

My  greatest  encouragement  came  from  one  who 
when  he  was  active  in  his  profession  was  the  best 
loved  of  any  man  that  in  this  generation  has  been  at 
the  head  of  a  great  New  York  newspaper,  and  who 
will  be  immediately  identified  in  almost  any  news- 
paper office.  His  letter  said  in  part: 

"I  know  it  will  be  interesting  and  trustworthy  and 
valuable,  for  these  are  qualities  that  enter  into  your 
productions  and  utterances  of  all  sorts.  .  .  .  You 
know  my  years  and  years  of  acquaintance  with  you 
has  made  me  very  much  interested  in  you  and  in  all 
that  you  do." 

Now  it  so  happens  that  a  saying  credited  to  an 
ancestor  of  a  collateral  branch  of  my  family  has  been 
a  guiding  principle  with  me.  I  have  been  slow  to 
make  up  my  mind  to  do  a  thing,  but  when  I  have 
become  convinced  that  it  was  right,  I  have  "gone 
ahead."  A  distinguished  literary  friend,  to  whom  I 
appealed  for  advice,  made  this  suggestion:  "Aim  at 
the  stars  and  let  her  go!"  But  I  am  not  drawing  a 
bow,  even  a  short  one.  I  believe  I  have  something 
that  should  be  told;  and  in  all  modesty,  with  due  defer- 
ence to  all  my  fellow  scribes,  of  equal  or  greater  de- 
gree, and  without  apology  to  those  pharisees  and  hypo- 
crites who  believe  merely  in  "making  clean  the  out- 
side of  the  platter,"  I  am  going  to  tell  it.  What  I 
shall  say  can  justly  offend  no  one  who  truly  believes 
in  the  "Credo"  attributed  to  the  Apostles.  To  some 
whose  faith  falters,  perhaps  conviction  may  come,  as 
it  has  in  my  own  case,  that  all  things  come  from  God, 
the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth; 
that  the  man  Jesus  Christ  was  His  Son;  that  Christ, 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  xv 

in  spirit,  while  His  body  lay  in  the  tomb,  went  to  the* 
place  of  departed  spirits,  and  afterward  ascended 
into  Heaven,  where  those  who  earnestly  and  truly 
repent  of  their  sins,  as  well  as  those  who  lead  blame- 
less lives,  shall  one  day  join  Him. 

While  it  is  my  hope  in  the  narrative  to  avoid  deduc- 
tions as  far  as  possible,  there  are  some  things  we  have 
been  told  that  I  think  should  be  repeated  here,  even 
if  they  are  not  new,  in  order  to  assist  comprehension 
of  what  shall  be  recorded. 

There  are  certain  persons  in  this  life  who  possess 
what  may  be  described  as  psychical  or  magnetic  power. 
In  some  it  is  latent,  in  others  it  is  manifest.  We  have 
all  heard  of  children  who  "see  things" ;  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  we  to  whom  happened  what  I  record,  have  been 
told  that  many  children  are  to  a  certain  extent  psychic, 
but  that  most  lose  the  power,  or  sense,  or  whatever 
it  may  be,  as  they  grow  up.  Those  in  whom  the  power 
remains  and  is  developed  often  become  "mediums."  I 
do  not  mean,  necessarily,  in  a  professional  sense;  the 
term  is  used  to  denote  mediums  of  communication.  A 
prejudice  exists  against  the  term  "medium,"  due,  no 
doubt,  to  the  great  amount  of  charlatanry  that  has 
been  practiced  from  time  immemorial  by  persons  who 
claim  to  "raise  ghosts."  There  are  many  "mediums," 
but  it  is  difficult  to  find  one  practicing  who  is  not  a 
charlatan.  The  law  discourages  the  genuine  from 
courting  publicity. 

It  was  through  a  medium,  one  who  I  happen  to 
know  has  been  recommended  by  officers  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research,  that  we  made  our  first  ap- 
proach to  what,  through  want  of  a  better  term,  I  must 
call  the  super-normal.  Through  her  was  begun  a 
chain  of  communication  that  grew  stronger  with 


xvi  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

time,  until  it  developed  for  us  surely  the  most  re- 
markable summer  that  any  small  family  of  quiet  folk 
has  ever  spent  in  these  times,  a  summer  that  started 
in  dreariness  and  hopeless  longing  for  the  lost,  and 
that  grew  into  happiness  and  a  measure  of  content. 
For  a  message  she  transmitted  gave  my  wife  her  first 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  dreary  little  orphan 
and  made  possible  the  beginning  of  a  new  and  joyous 
chapter  in  the  child's  life;  as  we  thus  learned  that  my 
wife's  first  husband  had  left  a  child,  and  that  this 
child  had  had  a  very  hard  lot,  and  it  was  upon  in- 
formation so  given  that  we  were  helped  in  locating  her. 
She  came  to  visit  us  for  the  summer,  and  it  was  with 
her  aid  that  much  of  what  will  be  recorded  has  hap- 
pened. A  little  girl  just  rounding  out  her  thirteenth 
year,  she  proved  to  have  marvelous  magnetic  or 
psychic  power;  at  the  end  of  the  summer,  so  we  were 
assured,  it  was  taken  away,  except  so  far  as  it  exists 
in  many  children  of  her  age.  She,  aided  by  what  we 
believe  to  be  spiritual  agents,  entered  our  life  and 
helped  take  away  the  sorrow  that  was  there. 

We  do  not  assume  to  teach  or  to  preach,  but  we  do 
know  that  in  our  own  case  the  fear  of  death  is  gone, 
and  the  sting  is  removed  that  was  left  by  the  passing 
of  her  upon  whom  had  centered  our  hopes.  For,  after 
we  had  once  established  what  we  were  satisfied  was 
direct  communication  with  our  daughter,  balm  was 
brought  to  heal  broken  hearts.  One  might  almost  say 
that  last  summer,  while  I  went  to  business  every  day, 
and  worked  harder  than  ever  in  my  life  and  apparently 
accomplished  more,  and  my  wife  went  about  her  daily 
tasks  much  as  usual,  we  really  lived  a  dual  life,  part 
of  it  on  a  different  plane. 

For  it  was  our  privilege  to  talk  with  agents  who 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  xvii 

convinced  us  that  they  were  now  not  of  our  world. 
Many  of  these  identified  themselves  with  the  personal- 
ities of  relatives.  We  were  told  much  concerning  the 
planes  that  intervene  between  this  life  and  Heaven, 
something  of  the  occupations  of  spirits  and  their  fes- 
tivities. While  little  information  concerning  Heaven 
itself  was  vouchsafed,  we  were  assured  that  it  differs 
much  from  the  conventional  and  dreary  resting-place 
pictured  by  orthodox  imaginations.  Earth  was  repre- 
sented to  us  as  a  place  of  trial,  with  Hell  very  near  it. 
No  man  who  has  tried  to  do  right  on  earth,  we  were 
told,  need  fear  his  chances  after  he  leaves  it.  But  pre- 
meditated murder,  suicide,  injustice,  deceit  are  among 
the  sins  that  come  near  being  unpardonable,  and  the 
man  or  woman  who  is  at  heart  bad  is  condemned  to  re- 
main on  earth  after  death,  sometimes  for  thousands  of 
years,  and  one  form  of  his  punishment  is  often  his 
ignorance  that  he  is  "dead"  and  inability  to  make  any- 
body recognize  him.  This  point  has  been  dwelt  upon 
by  at  least  one  writer  of  note.  We  have  been  told  that 
the  love  of  some  one  gone  before  may  serve  to  release 
one  who  is  earth-bound,  provided  his  sin  is  of  the  lesser 
sort,  and  the  real  repentance  of  a  sinner  while  on  earth 
may  give  him  a  clean  passport  to  the  next  plane.  The 
man  who  has  tried  to  do  good  here,  and  who  is  able  to 
lift  himself  above  things  that  are  "of  the  earth, 
earthy,"  finds  the  progression  to  Heaven  easy. 

We  are  perhaps  at  fault  in  not  having  asked  our 
questions  with  some  attempt  at  system  or  relevancy. 
But  nothing  on  our  part  was  premeditated.  We  never 
laid  down  any  plan.  The  conversations  took  place 
from  day  to  day  and  were  taken  down  word  for  word 
and  written  out  the  following  day,  very  much  as  a  re- 
porter for  an  afternoon  newspaper  would  deal  with 


xviii         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

the  speeches  or  events  of  a  convention.  But  in  this 
connection  I  may  repeat  what  was  told  us  by  our 
daughter  and  confirmed  by  other  spirits  or  psychical 
agents  that  visited  us,  that  our  little  "center,"  with  its 
unique  motive  power,  Love  in  varied  phases — that  of 
a  sorrowing  mother  for  her  dead  daughter,  and  the 
yearning  of  that  daughter's  spirit  to  give  comfort ;  the 
grief  of  a  lonely  little  girl  for  the  dead  parents  she 
had  hardly  known  and  their  great  longing  to  see  their 
child  provided  for;  the  tie  between  half-sisters  and  the 
development  of  a  rare  kind  of  parenthood,  a  woman's 
adoption  of  the  child  of  a  former  husband  by  another 
wife  and  that  child's  growth  in  the  affections  of  what 
might  be  called  a  step- father  twice  removed — these 
things  proved  of  interest  in  the  spirit  world.  And  so, 
we  were  assured  many  times,  from  the  little  family 
group  on  the  other  side  and  the  few  "guides"  who 
first  came  to  us,  the  spirit  audiences  grew  into  hun- 
dreds and  then  into  thousands,  and  we  were  told  that 
our  little  camp  near  the  Sound  became  every  night  a 
rendezvous  for  multitudes  of  the  departed  who  had 
not  so  long  shed  their  earthly  garment  that  they  had 
completely  lost  that  most  human  of  all  traits,  curiosity. 
What  may  be  called  our  own  real,  unassisted  ad- 
venture into  spirit  communication  did  not  begin  until 
summer  was  well  advanced,  and  then  absolutely  with- 
out premeditation.  How  we  happened  to  start,  quite 
accidentally,  with  an  ordinary  talking  board,  will  be 
told  later.  From  that  we  progressed  to  automatic 
writing,  and  by  this  means  our  daughter  charted  for 
us  a  new  kind  of  Communication  Board.  Then  fol- 
lowed tipping  the  table,  and  then,  in  brief  time,  levita- 
tion.  It  was  not  until  we  reached  this  stage  of  our 
experiences  that  I  really  believed  we  were  witnessing 


A  RECORD  OF  FACT  xix 

manifestations  of  extra-human  power.  I  might  mis- 
trust somebody  else's  eyes,  but  not  my  own,  especially 
when  vision  was  supported  by  muscular  evidence.  My 
doubts  did  not  disappear  until  I  had  seen  a  heavy 
table  lifted  four  feet  from  the  floor,  when  I 
could  swear  that  the  only  physical  force  applied 
was  several  pairs  of  human  hands  resting  lightly  upon 
the  top,  and  could  also  see  that  nothing  else  human, 
or  belonging  to  a  human  being,  was  touching  that 
table.  My  conviction  was  strengthened  by  having  the 
table  wrenched  from  my  hands  and  whirled  about  by 
a  force  that  must  have  measured  fully  one  hundred 
pounds.  Later  I  saw  and  felt  a  human  being  weigh- 
ing one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  lifted  more  than 
three  feet  above  the  floor.  Of  these  things  and  more 
I  shall  tell  farther  on. 

The  discovery  of  the  psychic  power  possessed  by 
our  little  visitor,  the  half-sister  of  our  dead  daughter, 
was  made  entirely  by  chance.  It  was  through  this 
means  that  came  the  strangest  and  most  satisfying  of 
all  our  experiences — experiences  that  while  at  times 
they  held  something  of  solemnity,  in  the  main  were 
fraught  with  humor  and  laughter,  and  always  with  in- 
terest. It  was  in  them  that  the  personality  and  the 
voice  of  her  we  had  mourned  as  lost  came  back  to  us 
every  day,  and  again  made  complete  our  intimate 
family  group. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

A  RECORD  OP  FACT vii 

I.     LOUISE i 

II.  A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE n 

III.  IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF 25 

IV.  ISABEL 37 

V.     THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS    ...  49 

VI.     THROUGH  THE  BOARD 61 

VII.     SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER    ....  69 

VIII.     THE  FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING      .  81 

IX.     THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED 91 

X.     ON  GUIDES  AND  "POWER"     ....  101 

XI.     MANIFESTATIONS 107 

XII.     GOOD  SPIRITS  AND  BAD — THE  CHART    .  117 

XIII.  IN  THE  FLESH 123 

XIV.  AN    ADVENTURE     INTO     SPIRITUALISTIC 

REALISM 133 

XV.     INTRODUCING  SOME  FRIENDS  OF  LOUISE  143 

XVI.     How  LEVITATION  Is  DONE      ....  153 

XVII.     LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK 163 

XVIII.     SPIRIT  AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS       .  175 

XIX.     SPIRITS  AND  HUMAN  NATURE       ...  187 
XX.     THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES;  AND  SOME 

ANCIENT  AMERICAN  "HISTORY"      .     .  197 

XXI.     LEVITATION  EXTRAORDINARY   ....  209 

XXII.     THE  GUESTS  TAKE  LEAVE      .     .     .     .  219 

AFTERTHOUGHT 229 


LOUISE 


REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 


CHAPTER  I 

LOUISE 

LOUISE  was  just  a  girl  who  went  through  life 
joyously,  dancing  and  singing  as  she  went.  She 
loved  fun,  and  found  it  everywhere  for  herself 
and  her  friends.  She  adored  chiffons  and  high  heels 
and  French  hats,  and  could  do  her  hair  exquisitely, 
and  she  did  not  find  disagreeable  the  attention  and 
admiration  that  were  always  hers  from  the  time  she 
began  to  go  to  children's  parties.  Her  great  passion 
was  music,  and  had  not  illness  wrecked  the  last  three 
years  of  her  life  her  sweet  voice  must  undoubtedly 
have  gained  public  recognition. 

To  sketch  the  story  of  her  brief  existence  here  is 
necessary  in  order  to  make  possible  an  understanding 
of  this  book  and  its  purpose ;  and  yet,  to  paint  a  picture 
of  the  Louise  we  knew  and  her  friends  knew,  one  must 
overcome  a  reluctance  to  bare  sacred  little  details  of 
family  life.  No  one  likes  to  parade  his  affections,  any 
more  than  his  woes  or  weaknesses.  However,  side- 
lights are  recognized  as  a  necessary  part  of  success- 
ful illumination,  unless  it  comes  from  above,  and  even 
then  they  help.  And  so,  perhaps,  such  may  assist  to 
a  fuller  comprehension  of  the  actual  revelations  of 
Louise's  life  on  the  spirit  plane. 

3 


4  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

She  was  a  little  girl  of  eight  when  first  I  knew  her, 
bright  and  winsome,  and  always  trying  to  do  some- 
thing to  make  things  pleasant  for  those  about  her. 
We  like  to  think  that  a  great  deal  of  Louise  came  from 
her  mother's  father,  a  man  of  wide  travel  and  great 
culture,  who,  after  a  somewhat  adventurous  career  in 
South  America,  where  he  distinguished  himself  as  an 
army  surgeon  and  as  a  specialist  in  fighting  pestilence 
and  plague,  elected  to  settle  in  a  city  in  the  Middle 
West,  and  to  earn  the  love  and  respect  of  a  small  com- 
munity rather  than  to  go  in  for  a  national  career. 
The  Spanish-American  War  saw  him  volunteer  for 
service,  and  to  his  medical  experience  and  skill  was 
due  no  small  part  of  the  reward  or  renown  that  came 
to  other  surgeons  who  stood  nearer  the  spotlight  of 
recognition.  He  knew  by  personal  contact  many  of 
the  great  thinkers  of  his  day,  and  his  home  was  one 
of  happiness.  It  was  under  his  care  that  Louise  passed 
the  early  years  of  her  childhood — the  formative  period 
of  her  mind.  From  him  she  learned  philosophy  and 
charity  and  optimism.  So  excellent  were  the  facilities 
of  the  schools  in  the  city  where  her  grandparents  lived, 
that  Louise  remained  with  them  until  she  had  been 
graduated  from  the  High  School.  She  stood  well  in 
her  classes,  and  as  soon  as  she  was  old  enough,  took 
the  leading  roles  in  the  school  plays  with  such  credit 
that  everybody  who  knew  her  said  she  was  destined 
for  the  stage.  My  work,  at  the  time,  took  me  to 
Europe  early  every  spring,  and  kept  me  there  until 
the  autumn,  so  that  it  was  not  until  her  grandfather 
died  that  she  came  to  make  her  home  with  us. 

In  the  summer  of  1909  we  took  the  children  abroad 
for  the  first  time.  We  had  a  delightful  little  house 
in  South  Kensington,  London,  with  a  big  garden,  and 


LOUISE  5 

Louise  saw  something  of  English  life  in  town  and 
out,  and,  of  course,  absorbed  a  good  deal  of  what  she 
saw.  Late  in  summer  there  was  Paris,  and  then  Lake 
Lucerne,  where  we  climbed  mountains  and  rode  in 
toy  steamers,  and  dined  at  quaint  little  restaurants, 
and  had  altogether  a  good  time.  It  was  one  of  the 
happiest  summers  of  our  life. 

Next  year  came  the  beginning  of  our  life  in  Con- 
necticut and  a  year  or  two  later  we  built  our  country 
house,  which  came  to  be  so  much  loved  by  the  chil- 
dren. Louise  always  looked  forward  to  going  out 
there  in  the  spring. 

At  length  came  the  day  when  it  was  decided  she 
should  really  take  up  music  seriously,  and  her  entrance 
at  one  of  the  most  famous  schools  followed.  In  her 
singing  she  made  progress  that  seemed  to  satisfy  her 
teachers.  Her  third  year's  studies  went  wonderfully, 
but  the  exertions  of  the  winter — study,  long  hours  of 
practice,  and  the  excitement  and  gayety  of  numerous 
dances  and  parties — taxed  a  constitution  that  was 
never  robust.  Her  graduation  was  only  a  few  weeks 
off  when  she  developed  a  slight  cough,  and  she  was 
hurried  away  for  a  course  of  sleeping  porches  and 
open  air  and  constant  attendance. 

Deprived  of  her  music,  her  thoughts  now  turned  to 
metaphysical  subjects.  Even  when  a  child,  she  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  reasoning  for  herself.  Nobody 
ever  made  up  her  mind  for  her.  She  had  always  read 
a  great  deal,  and  now  she  began  to  interest  herself 
in  Christian  Science.  The  idea  was  at  first  rather  dis- 
maying to  us  and  to  most  of  her  friends,  but  we 
thought  that  if  Christian  Science  could  give  her  com- 
fort and  solace  during  the  long,  weary  days  she  must 
spend  on  her  couch,  we  could  not  object.  It  is  fair 


6  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

to  say  that  the  study  of  it  helped  keep  up  her  spirits 
during  the  trying  years,  and  the  long  period  of  worry 
over  her  brother  in  France,  and  the  shock  of  the 
abandonment  of  her  wedding  when  all  was  ready  and 
even  the  day  set. 

By  the  early  part  of  July  her  condition  had  so  much 
improved  that  we  were  encouraged  to  hope  that  with 
her  mother  with  her  and  in  a  high  altitude  and  latitude, 
she  might  soon  be  restored  to  complete  health,  and 
so  the  two  went  to  the  highlands  of  Michigan,  where 
my  brother-in-law,  a  physician,  resides.  By  autumn 
she  seemed  entirely  recovered,  and  her  mother  left 
her  to  return  home,  expecting  Louise  to  join  us  in  a 
few  weeks.  But  a  stop  with  friends  was  scheduled, 
and  when  she  got  back  to  New  York  Louise  was  not 
as  her  mother  had  last  seen  her. 

The  house  in  the  country  was  kept  open  all  winter. 
Louise  lived  on  the  sleeping  porch  or  in  her  own 
room  with  the  windows  wide  open,  and  she  grew  rosy, 
and  by  spring  had  come  to  look  so  well  that  we  took 
hope  again.  By  summer  she  was  able  to  resume  an 
almost  normal  life,  and  we  were  once  more  happy, 
though  in  the  background  always  lurked  a  shadow. 
Late  in  the  summer  her  fiance,  just  graduated  from 
an  officers'  training  camp,  came  on,  and  it  was  in  the 
little  rock  garden  I  had  completed  shortly  before  that 
her  engagement  ring  was  placed  upon  her  finger.  Her 
future  looked  radiant,  and  we  were  all  very  happy. 

Then  in  the  autumn  came  relatives  from  Canada 
who  were  on  their  way  to  spend  the  winter  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  Louise  and  "Auntie,"  her  devoted  great- 
aunt,  were  invited  to  go  and  spend  the  winter  with 
them. 

The  last  time  I  saw  her  was  at  the  Grand  Central 


LOUISE  7 

Terminal  in  the  late  autumn  of  1917,  when  her  mother 
left  with  her  for  Chicago,  where  she  was  to  join 
"Auntie"  and  proceed  to  the  Coast 

Reassuring  reports  came  during  the  winter,  al- 
though we  learned  with  misgiving  that  a  woman  who 
was  a  Christian  Science  practitioner  had  made  Louise's 
acquaintance  and  become  intimate  with  her.  We  did 
not  interfere,  but  by  the  Spring  of  1918  we  made  up 
our  minds  that  Colorado  was  the  best  place  for  our 
daughter.  Her  letters  were  always  full  of  cheer  and 
promise,  the  reports  were  excellent,  and  a  few  weeks 
in  the  Rockies,  we  thought,  might  restore  her  to  com- 
plete health.  Besides,  her  fiance  might  be  ordered  to 
France  any  day,  and  it  was  decided  they  should  be 
married  before  he  went.  So  it  was  arranged  that 
Louise  should  meet  her  mother  in  Denver  early  in 
June,  and  the  wedding  day  was  set  for  the  middle  of 
the  month. 

My  wife  went  west  toward  a  beckoning  vision  of 
Louise,  radiant  with  health,  waiting  for  her  on  the 
station  platform  at  her  journey's  end,  and  on  her  way 
made  the  plans  that  a  fond  mother  would  make  at  such 
a  time,  even  to  choosing  the  place  where,  after  the 
honeymoon  had  been  cut  short  by  the  implacable  sum- 
mons overseas  that  must  come  to  the  bridegroom,  she 
would  take  the  little  bride  in  the  hope  of  finding  solace 
for  her  amid  happy  surroundings. 

But  Louise  was  not  on  the  platform  at  Denver. 
She  was  not  at  the  hotel  where  she  had  been  told  to 
stop.  Two  telegrams  were  handed  her  mother.  One 
told  that  Louise  had  not  yet  left  California.  The  other 
was  from  her  fiance;  his  leave  had  been  peremptorily 
cancelled,  owing  to  his  regiment's  suddenly  being  or- 
dered to  France.  And  when,  after  a  heart-breaking 


8  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

few  days  of  waiting  the  mother  saw  Louise  alight 
from  the  eastbound  train,  her  child's  appearance  re- 
vived all  the  agony,  the  terror  of  the  last  two  years. 

So,  with  all  the  pretty  finery  ready,  the  wedding 
ring  bought,  and  even  presents  and  congratulatory 
telegrams  beginning  to  arrive,  the  next  few  days  were 
anguishing,  and  the  mother  feared  a  serious  setback. 
Louise  bore  it  all  philosophically  and  smilingly — no 
tears,  no  regrets.  But  her  health  grew  worse,  in  spite 
of  the  best  skill,  and  what  were  considered  perfect 
climatic  conditions.  A  few  weeks  later,  when  news  of 
her  brother's  serious  wounding  came,  the  shock  proved 
severe  in  its  effects.  However,  she  seemed  to  rally,  and 
when  word  arrived  that  his  wounds  would  not  prove 
fatal  and  that  he  would  not  be  disabled,  was  happy 
again,  and  actually  in  gay  spirits.  Then,  at  last,  her 
fiance's  letters  began  to  arrive,  and  these  were  a  source 
of  great  joy. 

The  doctor  thought  she  was  improving  so  fast 
that  toward  the  end  of  the  summer  he  told  her  mother 
she  could  go  back  East  and  attend  to  some  pressing 
affairs,  and  she  left  her  darling  to  the  care  of  her  de- 
voted "Auntie"  and  a  friend. 

Cheering  news  came  to  us  and  this  kept  coming  al- 
most up  to  the  end.  The  doctor  continued  to  make 
favorable  reports,  and  Louise  herself  wrote  her  moth- 
er long,  bright  and  even  funny  letters,  so  that  we  both 
felt  much  encouraged.  It  was  only  the  intuition  of 
"Auntie"  that  divined  what  the  doctor  did  not  see. 
About  the  middle  of  October  she  began  to  send  appre- 
hensive letters.  Toward  the  end  of  the  month  she 
wrote  insisting  that  I  break  the  news  to  the  mother 
that  all  was  not  going  well.  I  telegraphed  the  doctor 
and  was  reassured,  but  directed  that  a  consultation  be 


LOUISE  9 

held.  Then,  finally,  I  received  in  Washington,  the 
first  week  in  November,  a  telegram  from  the  doctor 
which  sent  me  hurrying  home.  Louise's  condition  had 
developed  seriously,  it  said,  and  if  we  wished  to  have 
her  spend  her  last  days  with  those  she  loved,  we  had 
better  come  for  her  soon. 

Her  mother  took  the  first  train  for  Denver.  When 
she  saw  Louise,  Death  was  stamped  on  the  child's  face, 
a  face  illumined  by  such  a  sweet,  ingratiating  smile 
of  welcome !  Her  arms  encircled  her  mother  lovingly, 
and  with  seeming  strength.  The  thought  of  returning 
to  her  beloved  Eastern  home  gave  her  unalloyed  pleas- 
ure. She  said,  smilingly,  "It  will  mean  stretchers  and 
ambulances,  Mummy  dear,  but  I  shall  be  all  right' 
when  I  get  there." 

Her  slogan  seemed  to  be,  "Everything  will  be  all 
right."  She  said  it  many  times  during  the  brief  six 
hours  her  mother  had  of  her. 

It  seemed  quite  possible  to  take  her  back  East,  and 
every  arrangement  was  made  to  start  the  following 
night. 

She  went  on  the  train  they  had  chosen,  but  only  her 
wonderful  spirit  occupied  the  compartment  with  her 
mother.  Under  its  sweet  influence  the  latter  was  made 
to  forget  the  pitiful  part  of  her  child  that  traveled 
in  a  car  ahead,  and  which,  perhaps  to  save  her  reason, 
had  somehow  become  almost  meaningless. 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE 


CHAPTER  II 

A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE 

AS  it  was  Louise's  mother  who  took  the  first  steps 
that  led  to  the  happenings  of  which  the  rest 
of  this  narrative  will  tell,  and  as  the  whole  book 
is  a  first-hand  report,  I  have  had  her  write,  from  her 
notes,  the  story  of  why  she  came  to  seek  the  aid  of  a 
spiritualistic    medium,    and    with    what    success.      It 
follows : 


From  the  moment  my  dear  child  relaxed  in  my  arms 
and  I  knew  her  spirit  had  left,  I  have  felt  that  a  spirit 
could  as  easily  walk  out  of  the  body  as  we  do  out  of 
our  homes,  so  suddenly  and  so  quietly  was  this  process 
accomplished.  Moreover  I  believe  that  the  spirit  fre- 
quently does  leave  the  body,  mostly  during  sleep;  but 
in  sleep  a  filament  of  attachment,  a  way  back,  as  it 
were,  remains.  And  it  is  when  the  home  in  which  the 
spirit  lives  and  functions  becomes  uninhabitable  that 
it  is  willing  or  perhaps  obliged  permanently  to  detach 
itself.  When  quite  detached,  the  spirit  begins  its  life 
as  an  entity,  and  in  the  case  of  my  daughter  this  hap- 
pened at  once,  for  she  came  to  me  immediately.  She 
knew  from  the  great  absorbing  love  I  had  for  her 
that  my  grief  might  prove  unbearable. 

But  there  was  no  grief.  I  felt  uplifted,  exalted — 
even  joyous.  I  felt  luminous  and  light.  The  most 
dreadful  thing  in  the  world  had  happened  to  me,  yet 

13 


14  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

grief  did  not  strike  me  down.  And  on  the  long  jour- 
ney East  I  felt  that  wonderful  presence.  It  was  as 
if  some  strong  force  was  influencing  my  mind  to  for- 
get the  pathetic  cargo  that  journeyed  with  me  in  the 
baggage  car  ahead. 

That  first  day  on  the  train  brought  the  news  of  the 
signing  of  the  Armistice,  and  joyous  clangor  met  us  at 
every  station.  Had  not  Louise  been  there  with  her 
fortifying  influence,  my  nerves,  my  brain  could  not 
have  endured  the  strain,  although  it  meant  my  son's 
release  from  the  European  Inferno,  and  that  in  all 
probability  one  child,  at  least,  would  be  spared  me. 

During  those  days  before  the  last  trying  one  at 
Woodlawn,  I  felt  her  always  near,  encouraging,  caress- 
ing me,  and  as  I  stood  there  by  the  open  grave  wonder- 
ing what  would  happen  to  me,  a  sweet  voice  whis- 
pered: 

"Don't  think  for  a  moment  that  I  am  there,  for  I 
am  standing  right  beside  you.  That  is  nothing;  and, 
Mummy  dear,  I  feel  like  saying,  'Here  goes  nothing' ; 
for  that  is  what  it  is — nothing,  nothing,  nothing.' ' 

This  was  whispered  in  a  way  so  subtly  amusing  that 
I  almost  laughed.  I  went  away  feeling  strongly  that 
my  child  had  merely  cast  off  an  old  dress  of  which 
she  was  very  tired,  to  wrap  herself  in  luminous,  fade- 
less draperies. 

I  had  begun  to  think  very  much  about  "Raymond," 
a  book  I  had  read  two  years  before  without  being  at 
all  convinced  that  communication  was  possible,  or 
that  even  survival  had  been  proven.  This  was  not  the 
fault  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  but  was  due  entirely  to  the 
prejudice  of  ignorance.  Now  I  felt  a  yearning  for 
some  way  to  communicate  with  my  child  who  had 
gone.  The  voice  that  spoke  those  sweet  words  of  com- 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE  15 

fort  could  have  belonged  to  none  other  than  Louise. 
I  was  hungry  for  more. 

It  was  through  hearing  of  her  just  by  chance  that 
I  found  a  medium.  I  took  every  precaution  that  she 
should  know  nothing  about  me  or  what  brought  me 
to  her.  My  appointment  with  Mrs.  S.  was  achieved 
with  some  difficulty,  as  she  was  very  busy  with  her 
regular  work  in  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research, 
and  in  New  York  mediums  are  obliged  to  be  cautious, 
as  there  is  a  law  against  their  using  their  gift.  A 
mean  advantage  is  sometimes  taken  of  them  by  de- 
tectives who  come  for  sittings  professing  to  be  in  sor- 
row. Of  course,  there  are  many  charlatans  who  de- 
serve their  fate;  but  it  is  very  hard  on  the  true  me- 
diums, sensitive  in  every  meaning  of  the  word.  These 
should  be  carefully  protected;  for  their  work  in  bring- 
ing comfort  to  stricken  hearts  is  a  great  one,  and  I 
know  that  even  the  most  needy  of  them  do  much  just 
through  kindness  and  sympathy  for  those  who  cannot 
pay.  It  is  wonderful  to  think  that  they  are  willing 
to  become  absolutely  unconscious  and  put  themselves  at 
our  mercy  for  an  hour  or  more  at  a  time,  while  we 
listen,  for  all  they  know,  to  the  inmost  secrets  of  their 
souls. 

In  response  to  my  urgent  pleadings  over  the  tele- 
phone, Mrs.  S.  said  she  would  see  me  Thanksgiving 
morning,  in  case  she  did  not  have  to  be  out  of  town 
that  day.  The  night  before,  I  called  her  up  with  ap- 
prehension, for  the  appointment  meant  so  much  to 
me,  and  to  my  great  joy  she  said  she  would  be  able 
to  keep  the  appointment  that  had  been  tentatively 
made. 

It  was  my  first  experience  with  a  medium,  and  al- 
though I  felt  somewhat  constrained  at  first,  her  kind 


16  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

manner  soon  put  me  quite  at  ease.  While  the  shades 
were  drawn,  it  was  sunny  outside  and  the  room  was 
light  enough  for  me  to  write  in  comfort. 

Mrs.  S.  was  both  clairvoyant  and  clairaudient,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  she  said: 

"A  man  who  says  he  is  your  Uncle  J.  is  standing 
beside  me.  He  says  he  went  over  thirty-four  years 
ago.  He  is  dark,  with  a  black  mustache." 

I  thought  of  my  father's  brothers,  Uncle  James  and 
Uncle  Joseph,  but  the  description  did  not  fit  either  of 
them.  When  I  said  this,  the  spirit  vanished  and  has 
never  returned.  I  felt  quite  chagrined  when,  upon 
returning  home  and  telling  my  aunt,  my  mother's  sis- 
ter, of  this  experience,  she  said :  "Well,  have  you 
forgotten  your  Uncle  Jack,  my  brother?  The  descrip- 
tion is  of  him."  And  on  counting  up,  we  found  that 
he  had  died  thirty-four  years  before. 

Then  came  one  of  my  life's  greatest  surprises,  for 
the  medium  suddenly  exclaimed: 

"Why,  here  is  some  one  who  says  he  was  your  hus- 
band. He  wants  to  tell  you  that  he  met  your  daughter 
when  she  came  over.  He  emphasizes  the  fact  that  she 
is  your  daughter  because  he  says  you  changed  her 
name  to  that  of  your  present  husband.  But  he  says 
he  is  worried  about  his  little  dark-haired  daughter 
whom  he  left  motherless  and  fatherless,  and  with  no 
means  of  support.  He  says  he  sees  now  the  advantages 
you  gave  his  children,  and  is  deeply  concerned  about 
his  dark-haired  daughter." 

I  had  heard  many  years  before  that  my  divorced 
husband  had  married  again  and  a  vague  rumor  that 
there  were  children;  but  he  and  his  entire  family  had 
passed  completely  out  of  my  life.  I  felt  sure  the 
"dark-haired"  daughter  must  be  my  Louise's  half-sis- 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE  17 

ter,  and  that  he  was  sending  me  a  plea  to  aid  her.  Al- 
though I  set  to  work  at  once  to  find  the  child,  it  was 
five  weeks  before  I  located  her,  living  with  some  ma- 
ternal relatives  in  the  Far  West.  But  this  dear  child's 
story  will  be  told  later. 

My  former  husband  having  thus  unburdened  him- 
self of  his  paternal  anxiety,  I  found  the  medium  sud- 
denly shutting  her  eyes  and  settling  down  among  the 
pillows  of  her  reclining  chair  as  if  for  a  nap.  Her 
face  grew  pale,  thinner.  I  was  alarmed,  fearing  she 
had  fainted,  and  moved  to  aid  her,  when  her  lips  began 
to  move  and  she  whispered : 

"Your  daughter  is  here.  I  cannot  see  her,  but  the 
guide  is  describing  her.  She  is  like  a  lovely  lily  now 
and  not  very  strong  yet.  She  has  been  over  only  a 
short  time,  but  she  wants  to  reassure  her  mother — to 
tell  her  never  to  have  any  regrets,  nor  to  think  all  that 
was  possible  had  not  been  done.  The  trouble  was 
more  deep-seated  than  the  doctors  knew." 

She  continued,  as  if  quoting  my  child: 

"  'When  you  sat  beside  me  on  that  last  day  I  felt 
that  everything  was  coming  out  for  the  best  and  al- 
though I  did  not  want  to  die,  when  I  found  myself 
slipping  away,  I  was  not  sorry,  for  beautiful  voices 
were  in  my  ears  and  gentle  hands  were  lifting  me.  I 
shall  soon  be  singing  again — for  large  audiences,  like 
John  McCormack,  the  famous  tenor.' ' 

The  medium  said  in  her  own  words : 

"She  is  laughing  about  it." 

Louise  used  to  be  fond  of  John  McCormack's  pleas- 
ing but  sometimes  mawkish  Irish  melodies,  and  had 
spoken  of  his  tremendous  success  with  some  wonder 
as  well  as  admiration.  Often  she  had  amused  us  with 
her  imitations  of  him. 


i8  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Quoting  Louise,  the  medium  resumed : 

"  'I  had  not  been  here  long,  Mother,  when  I  knew 
this  was  the  real  life.  All  fear  and  doubt  is  removed, 
the  vision  is  clear,  the  way  is  clear,  the  goal  perfect 
and  everything  is  clearly  explained  to  us.  High,  thick, 
blank,  impenetrable  walls  do  not  surround  us  here, 
or  rise  up  before  that  we  seek  to  know.' ' 

She  spoke  of  several  things  that  had  occurred  during 
the  last  few  hours  of  her  life  and  of  the  long,  dreary 
journey  across  the  continent  when  she  tried  to  make 
me  feel — and  successfully — that  her  spirit  was  always 
right  by  my  side. 

I  asked : 

"What  was  one  of  the  first  things  you  did  after  pass- 
ing over?" 

"  'I  came  to  Auntie/  "  was  the  reply. 

This  dear  aunt  of  mine,  after  whom  Louise  was 
named,  had  been  devoted  to  her  from  infancy  and  had 
been  with  her  to  the  last.  She  had  told  me  of  the 
beautiful  vision  of  Louise  which  had  appeared  to  her 
the  night  Louise  left  us.  She  came  in  rosy  health, 
with  shining  eyes  and  hair  and  told  Auntie  that  every- 
thing was  "all  right." 

This  experience  was  a  great  solace  to  this  aunt, 
who  had  loved  the  child  as  a  mother,  and  I  was  de- 
lighted to  have  the  incident  verified  through  the  me- 
dium. 

All  that  Mrs.  S.  said  on  this,  my  first  visit,  was  evi- 
dential, and  I  know  that  she  was  quite  ignorant  of  my 
identity  or  what  had  brought  me  to  her.  I  came 
away  feeling  well  satisfied  that  I  had  communed  with 
my  beloved  child.  I  had  many  sittings  with  Mrs.  S. 
afterwards  and  something  evidential  was  always  given 
me. 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE  19 

Of  course,  very  often  it  seemed  as  if  "the  wires  be- 
came crossed"  and  strangers  tried  to  get  messages 
through.  Sometimes  I  was  able  to  recognize  these 
and  carry  them  to  the  destinations  intended.  One  in- 
sistent demand  for  immediate  recognition  came  several 
times  from  "R.  R."  to  "V.  G.  O."  The  latter  I  could 
not  identify  until  finally  one  day  I  told  the  incident  to 
an  acquaintance  whose  initials  were  "V.  G.  O."  She 
was  quite  moved,  and  said  "Yes,  an  old  friend  who 
loved  me  in  his  youth  and  who  is  now  dead,  had  those 
initials.  He  told  me  he  would  wait  for  me  over 
there." 

His  message  was  only  that  he  was  happy  and  wait- 
ing for  her.  He  began  to  say  more,  but  paused,  and 
then  cautiously  concluded,  "But  no  more  must  be  said 
about  this."  I  attributed  this  access  of  discretion  to 
the  fact  that  the  lady  had  a  husband  on  the  earth  plane. 
I  have  learned  that  spirits  are  most  discreet.  They 
never  make  a  -faux  pas  nor  get  any  one  in  trouble. 

I  sat  with  Mrs.  S.  approximately  once  a  week  all 
winter.  These  sittings  were  for  the  most  part  joyous 
occasions  for  me,  and  even  if  there  had  not  been  a 
great  quantity  of  what  is  known  in  psychical  circles 
as  evidential  matter,  I  could  not  have  doubted  that 
Louise  was  there.  I  shall  give  some  examples  of  the 
evidential  messages,  as  they,  naturally,  are  more  con- 
vincing than  anything  else. 

At  all  the  sittings  Louise  referred  to  her  love  for 
music  or  to  her  musical  progress.  I  will  write  word 
for  word  what  she  said,  sometimes  through  White 
Light,  Mrs.  S.'s  guide,  and  sometimes  when  the  me- 
dium was  quoting  her  words. 


20  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

December  15,  1918. 
(Message  transmitted  through  guide.) 

"Tell  Mother  that  the  chances  here  are  better  than 
on  earth  for  genius  to  work  itself  out.  Tell  her  not 
to  mourn  for  me  as  for  one  who  has  finished  her  work, 
but  to  think  of  me  as  one  who  is  just  carrying  out 
the  highest  aspirations  of  her  mother  and  herself." 

Then  Louise  herself  spoke  through  the  medium  and 
said  with  great  enthusiasm: 

"  'And  oh,  the  symphonies  I  am  privileged  to  hear ! 
When  I  first  went  over  I  could  hear  so  much  music 
and  did  not  know  where  it  came  from.  The  teacher 
said  I  was  attuned  to  that  vibration.' ' 

(Same  day,  later.) 

"  'Tell  Mother  I  am  so  happy  to  be  practicing  rrTy 
music.  It  is  very  good  to  know  that  every  one  can 
carry  on  to  fruition  his  aspirations  and  talents — 
his  expression.  It  fills  my  heart  to  overflowing  to 
speak  of  music.  Ask  Mother  if  she  remembers  what 
I  was  striving  for — a  certain  class  of  music  that  I  was 
anxious  to  accomplish.' ' 

The  medium  said: 

"She  wants  Mother  to  know  that  she  is  acquiring 
that  now." 

I  remarked  to  her: 

"Yes;  certain  grand  opera  roles." 

The  guide  continued :  "Her  physical  condition  kept 
her  from  doing  her  best.  She  had  trouble  in  register- 
ing her  higher  tones.  She  is  so  happy  to  see  that 
Mother  understands  she  is  doing  here  what  she  could 
not  do  on  earth,  hampered  as  she  was  physically.  But 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE  21 

now  she  is  the  embodiment  of  the  'Spring  Song.'  She 
lives  in  the  vibrations  of  love,  harmony  and  devo- 
tion." 

January  5.      / 

Mrs.  S.,  in  a  clairaudient  state,  said:  "Here  is 
Louise  speaking  of  some  one  who  used  to  accompany 
her  on  the  piano  and  violin." 

Then  as  if  from  Louise  herself  came  this :  "  'I  owe 
all  my  training  to  you,  which  establishes  me  in  a  higher 
vibration  and  makes  me  attuned  to  the  great  sym- 
phonies of  the  spirit  plane.  I  have  so  much  to  thank 
you  for.  We  were  pals  and  still  are.' ' 

February  23. 

In  Louise's  words : 

"  'I  am  singing  a  song,  "Just  You  and  I."  Later: 
"  'The  great  musicians  are  all  here,  those  who  are  seek- 
ing the  truth  of  their  art.  I  have  seen  all  the  old 
masters  in  the  great  Forum.  It  is  like  going  to  the 
Metropolitan.  Their  music  is  caught  by  ears  on  the 
earth  plane  which  are  attuned  to  it.  That  is  inspira- 
tion. Look  at  Mozart  in  his  childhood  receiving  it. 
bringing  forth  his  great  genius  at  the  age  of  five.' ' 

In  casual  conversation,  I  took  occasion,  several  sit- 
tings later,  to  find  out  if  Mrs.  S.  knew  the  facts  of 
Mozart's  childhood.  She  did  not,  nor  did  I  until  I 
looked  them  up.  This  might  be  called  evidential. 

Through  all  my  sittings  with  Mrs.  S.  Louise  con- 
tinually referred  to  music  and  the  joy  of  it  as  if  her 
three  years'  deprivation  had  made  her  return  to  it 
ecstasy.  Dancing  had  its  place  in  the  revelations  of 
her  new  life  and  the  medium's  hands  and  arms  were 
sometimes  used  in  graceful  gesturing  to  waltz  time. 


22  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Through  all  my  early  sittings  I  was  able  to  main- 
tain a  strict  incognito,  and  I  must  say  that  Mrs.  S. 
was  just  as  eager  as  I  was  for  evidential  matter  and 
never  asked  me  leading  questions. 

My  daughter  had  been  an  ardent  student  of  Chris- 
tian Science,  and  as  there  was  no  way  for  the  medium 
to  know  this,  I  considered  this  message  from  Louise  of 
great  importance : 

"Mother,  I  have  been  completely  disillusioned  about 
Christian  Science.  You  cannot  ignore  the  physical 
body  while  the  spirit  is  functioning  in  it.  Christian 
Scientists  try  to  live  on  the  earth  plane  as  we  do  on 
the  spirit  plane.  But  it  is  not  reasonable;  it  cannot 
be  done.  It  was  a  false  message  that  deluded  Mrs. 
Eddy  in  the  shedding  of  the  physical  on  the  earth  plane. 
Here  is  a  problem  for  chemists ;  I  cast  off  my  physical 
body,  and  yet  I  have  a  perfectly  substantial  one  left. 
Although  Christian  Science  taught  me  to  disregard  the 
body,  when  I  look  back  on  the  physical  I  recognize 
its  reality  because  its  imprint  is  left  on  the  spiritual 
body.  The  spirit  holds  all  that  was  beautiful  and  re- 
linquishes all  that  was  imperfect." 

At  one  sitting  she  said  :  "I  realized  how  much  Daddy 
was  missing  me  when  he  visited  my  last  resting  place 
by  himself."  I  repeated  this  to  her  Daddy  on  my 
return  as  one  of  the  mistakes  which  are  sometimes 
made,  but  he  said,  "No,  it  was  not  a  mistake;  I  did 
go  there  alone,  but  did  not  tell  you  about  it." 

I  could  name  dozens  of  instances  to  prove  that  my 
daughter  was  often  with  us  in  the  family  circle.  She 
spoke  very  sympathetically  of  her  old  Auntie's  having 
lost  a  front  tooth,  a  fact  which  meant  nothing  to  the 
medium,  as  she  had  not  known  of  Auntie's  existence. 

Another  time  Louise  said :     "  'I  was  so  sorry  for 


A  SEARCH  FOR  SOLACE  23 

you,  Mother,  when  you  were  looking  over  my  letters 
yesterday.  I  was  there  and  tried  to  cheer  you  up.' ' 

She  had  succeeded,  for  I  accomplished  with  pleasure 
an  afternoon's  ordeal  which  I  had  been  putting  off  with 
dread. 

I  had  a  great  dread  of  going  through  her  trunks,  but 
at  last  planned  to  do  it  on  a  certain  Monday.  The  day 
before,  I  was  as  usual  with  Mrs.  S.  and  was  quite  sur- 
prised when  in  a  trance  she  said,  quoting  Louise: 
"  'Mother,  no  tears  to-morrow  when  you  look  over 
my  things ;  remember  that.'  *  And  then  for  the  first 
time  she  spoke  the  name  of  her  half-sister,  whom  I 
shall  call  "Violet."  It  was  to  find  things  suitable  to 
send  to  her  little  sister  that  I  meant  to  go  through  with 
this  painful  task. 

The  first  time  I  did  canteen  work  at  the  Eagle  Hut 
was  last  New  Year's  Day.  I  served  pie  most  of  the 
time.  On  my  next  visit  to  the  medium,  Louise  came 
during  the  trance  saying :  "  'I  was  with  you  on  your 
"soldier's  day,"  and  saw  you  handing  out  the  pie — 
mince  pie,  apple  pie  and  other  kinds.  I  circulated 
among  the  boys  and  heard  them  talk  and  felt  so  glad, 
for  the  day  was  for  them  the  beginning  of  a  year  of 
peace/ ' 

On  March  9,  my  sitting  with  Mrs.  S.  had  an  un- 
usual feature.  For  the  first  time  Louise  mentioned 
dogs,  and  made  me  feel  very  happy,  showing  that  she 
still  retained  a  love  for  animals.  She  described  two 
pets  she  had  loved  as  a  child.  Her  heart  had  been 
almost  broken  when  they  died.  Mrs.  S.,  at  the  time 
clairaudient,  not  completely  in  a  trance,  said :  "Your 
daughter  is  speaking  of  a  little  fluffy  dog — Chi-Chi- 
Chi — oh,  yes,  Chico,  and  also  a  tan-colored,  rather 
brown  dog  whose  name  began  with  B.  She  wants 
you  to  know  that  they  are  with  her." 


24  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Chico"  was  a  Maltese  terrier  of  her  tiny  girlhood 
and  delighted  us  with  his  great  intelligence  and  his 
tricks  for  many  years.  Then  came  "Biddy,"  the  Irish 
terrier  with  soft,  loving  eyes,  also  much  beloved.  Chico 
died  at  a  good  age,  and  his  demise  was  not  a  tragedy ; 
but  Biddy  was  cut  off  from  life  too  young,  and  under 
tragic  circumstances.  A  snapshot  of  her  pet  adorned 
the  locket  of  a  sad  little  girl  for  many  months. 

One  day  Louise  said :  "  'Now,  Mummy,  I  am  go- 
ing to  give  you  something  characteristic  and  eviden- 
tial.' "  Mrs.  S.  at  the  time  was  in  a  deep  trance.  "  'I 
come  into  the  house  and  come  right  in  to  you  and 
Daddy  and  tell  you  all  the  news ;  so  happy ;  I  am  walk- 
ing through  the  house,  going  to  my  room,  making 
myself  complete  in  my  boudoir,  putting  on  my  cap 
and  negligee  of  filmy,  two-toned  chiffon.  You  call 
out,  "Have  you  gone  to  bed?"  I  respond  that  I  want 
to  read  my  book.  "I  will  finish  it  and  then  go  to 
sleep."  Isn't  that  characteristic,  like  old  times?' ' 

I  can  truthfully  say  that  this  was  an  almost  nightly 
occurrence  in  those  happy  days. 

I  feel  that  perhaps  I  have  not  done  full  justice  to 
my  medium,  but  I  have  chosen  only  those  messages 
which  came  through  most  clearly  and  have  omitted 
much  that  came  to  me  about  the  glory  of  the  spiritual 
existence.  Nor  have  I  spoken  of  my  many  relatives 
who  registered,  frequently  recalling  the  past.  I  have 
left  out  all  that  is  vague  and  mystic.  There  is  so 
much  to  be  told  that  is  neither  vague  nor  mystic;  but 
the  greater  part  of  it  came  in  our  home  life  with 
;  Louise,  which  began  so  strangely  during  the  early 
part  of  the  summer. 


IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF 

"TIT  THEN  my  wife  spoke  to  me  the  first  time  about 
V^/  going  to  see  a  medium,  I  had  the  average 
"  man's  repugnance  to  the  idea,  strengthened 
by  a  newspaper  remembrance  of  the  exposure  of  num- 
erous persons  who  had  pretended  to  be  able  "to  raise 
spirits."  But,  after  some  consideration,  I  concluded 
that  if  there  was  comfort  and  consolation  anywhere 
for  her  in  her  sorrow,  no  means  that  offered  the  slight- 
est possibility  of  result  should  be  despised.  And  when 
she  returned  that  Thanksgiving  afternoon,  two  hours 
after  the  cook  had  announced  dinner  and  I  had  done 
some  telephoning  about  town  through  fear  that  she 
had  met  with  an  accident,  I  was  astonished  at  the  joy 
in  her  face.  Her  narration  of  what  she  had  seen  and 
heard  impressed  me.  Certainly  there  was  something 
to  be  said  for  mediums — at  least  for  one.  However, 
while  affection  and  my  own  sorrow  insured  a  sym~ 
pathetic  ear,  I  looked  upon  the  thing  altogether  as  a 
psychopathic  experiment  that  had  started  well. 

After  each  of  her  succeeding  visits  to  the  medium, 
D.  read  me  her  notes,  and  I  shared  with  her  the  won- 
der, but  not  the  faith,  she  early  acquired.  Then,  as 
time  passed,  I  gradually  made  up  my  mind  that  I,  too, 
would  see  Mrs.  S.  and  judge  for  myself  as  to  her 
powers  and  her  accomplishments.  However  willing 
might  be  the  tender  heart  that  cried  out  for  healing 

27 


28  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

to  accept  anything  that  promised  to  bind  up  its  wound, 
I,  at  least,  was  not  credulous — would  not  be  imposed 
upon.  Therefore,  while  I  made  my  early  investiga- 
tions in  apparent  frankness  and  with  heart  aching  for 
something  my  reason  could  accept,  I  maintained  a  re- 
serve that  was,  to  say  the  least,  skeptical,  and  weighed 
carefully  what  I  saw  and  heard. 

I  don't  think  that  Mrs.  S.  had  the  slightest  clew  to 
my  identity  when,  after  several  attempts  to  make  an 
appointment,  I  visited  her  on  the  evening  of  January 
27.  I  wore  no  mourning,  and  had  made  the  appoint- 
ment through  the  use  of  the  name  of  a  literary  man, 
an  acquaintance  of  mine,  not  of  D.'s,  who,  I  had 
learned  by  accident,  was  a  friend  of  the  medium's. 

We  had  some  talk  upon  general  subjects,  but  I  could 
not  detect  that  she  made  any  effort  to  establish  my 
identity.  After  some  time  she  put  a  black  bandage 
about  her  eyes,  saying  that  it  sometimes  helped  her  to 
go  to  sleep.  It  was  perhaps  two  minutes  afterward 
that  she  began  to  talk.  Followed  the  mention  of  names 
which  might  or  might  not  be  those  of  friends  of  mine 
who  had  died.  I  thought  to  test  her  by  trying  to  get 
in  communication  with  one,  Captain  Emery  Rice,  of 
whom  I  had  been  very  fond,  and  who,  after  note- 
worthy service  in  command  of  the  transport  Mongolia, 
had  died  suddenly  from  pneumonia  shortly  before.  I 
merely  said  that  I  wished  to  talk  with  a  friend  of 
mine  who  had  died  recently.  At  length  she  said,  "I 
am  not  seeing — just  getting  an  impression  of  a  gentle- 
man. Rather  large — something  about  'W.'  Maybe, 
Washington.  The  spirit  seems  to  go  there.  He  wants 
me  to  go  to  Washington/' 

The  last  time  I  saw  Emery  Rice  was  in  Washington 
in  November,  1917. 


IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF  29 

However,  in  that  direction  I  got  no  further.  Then 
came  much  more,  disjointedly.  Some  of  it  recalled 
three  brothers,  friends  of  my  youth,  who  had  met 
tragic  deaths  by  drowning,  and  then  again,  later, 
something  which  might  be  about  another  friend  of 
mine  who  had  died  more  recently. 

"It  seems  as  if  there  was  something  peculiar  about 
the  burial.  It  was  not  a  burial  in  the  usual  way,"  said 
the  medium. 

G.,  a  young  man  who  some  years  ago  was  my  ste- 
nographer, had  died  a  few  days  before  my  visit  to 
Mrs.  S.,  and  his  body  had  been  cremated. 

"Can  you  place  C-r?"  asked  the  medium.  I  could 
place  these  letters,  of  course,  as  the  first  two  of  my  own 
name,  but  I  did  not  answer.  There  was  much  more, 
all  of  which  was  too  vague  to  be  satisfactory.  Then, 
suddenly,  the  medium  said,  "I  wish  you  could  place 
the  name  of  Jean  or  Jane — Emily  Jane." 

"Emily"  was  the  name  of  my  paternal  grandmother, 
but  I  could  not  remember  an  "Emily  Jane." 

A  little  later.  "Will  you  recall  the  name,  'Fritz'? 
He  is  trying  to  get  a  last  name — 'C.' — might  that  be 
'C-r-o-c?'  I  am  trying  to  get  a  last  name." 

Then:  "I  wish  you  could  recognize  a  beautiful 
young  woman  here.  She  is  very  young,  in  her  early 
twenties.  She  wants  me  to  call  'Dad' — I  wish  you 
could  recognize  her.  Very  young,  beautiful  hair,  blue 
eyes.  Does  she  call  you  'B'  ?  Do  you  call  that  'Bert'  ?" 

"Bert"  is  the  name  by  which  I  have  usually  been 
called. 

"She  says  she  has  overcome  physical  conditions, 
having  just  wasted  away;  weak,  but  now  strong  and 
growing.  She  is  speaking  about  K.  Calling  K.  May- 
be I'll  say,  'my  brother  K.'  She  is  speaking:  The 


30  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

grave  where  you  walked,  just  you  and  I.  Don't  be 
lonely  now ;  no  separation.  I  can  speak  to  you.' ' 

It  so  happened  that  on  the  morning  of  the  funeral 
I  had  left  my  wife  and  had  gone  back  alone  to  the 
grave.  D.  had  not  known  anything  of  this. 

"  'Daddy,  will  you  let  me  guide  you  ?  Brush  back 
your  hair.  Things  will  be  all  right.  I  will  just  soothe 
you.  I  want  to  go  home.  To  a  home'  " — the  medium 
resumed  in  her  own  voice :  "Seems  to  be  going  to  an- 
other home;  going  through  Greenwich — beautiful 
fields,  flowers,  trees,  near  water;  maybe  for  the  sum- 
mer,— a  summer  place — 'If  only  I  can  sing  the  songs 
I  would  like  to  sing  to  you.  I  know  it  would  open  up 
the  beauties  of  this  life  to  you  as  it  did  for  me  when 
I  would  sing.  Love  to  Mother.' ' 

At  this,  the  medium  blew  a  kiss  with  her  hand.  This 
was  a  favorite  gesture  of  Louise's. 

At  my  second  sitting,  on  February  10,  the  medium 
said,  after  going  into  a  trance : 

"There  seem  to  be  three  in  your  family — yes — the 
lady  here  is  reaching  out  to  three  in  your  family.  She 
is  speaking  of  a  name  *L.  C.'  or  'Elsie' :  she  is  trying 
to  call — it  sounds  like  'Louie' — 'L-o'  maybe,  yes  'Lou.' 
This  is  the  spirit  of  a  beautiful  young  woman.  Her 
father  is  with  her  and  wants  you  to  know  she  is 
strong.  Life  went  out  like  sands  running  through  an 
hour  glass,  slowly  ebbing  away. 

"  'We  are  going  away  out  West.  I  am  waving  my 
handkerchief  at  you  at  the  Station.  Good-by! — the 
last  time  you  saw  me.  You  are  reading  the  morning 
paper.  I  want  you  to  know  I  am  trying  to  read  the 
morning  paper  for  you.  Just  as  I  lean  over  your 
shoulder,  as  you  get  the  glint  of  sunlight  on  your 
paper,  sometimes  sad,  sometimes  glad — knowing  what 


IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF  31 

is  going  on.'  She  speaks  of  'D-o-1' — 'D-o-l-o-r' — she 
is  trying  to  speak  a  name.  (Dolores  is  her  mother's 
name. )  Now  it  sounds  like  Tat' ;  no,  she  is  trying  to 
speak  of  'Mother — pet.'  She  speaks  of  four  in  the 
family  and  says  that  autumn  leaves  cover  the  grave. 
'I  am  speaking  to  Daddy.  I  just  want  to  register 
Love  that  is  growing  steadily  for  him.  I  don't  want 
Mother  to  think  I  have  gone.  I  am  just  beside  her.' ' 

The  medium  resumed  in  her  own  voice :  "Your  dear 
one  that  has  just  crossed  the  threshold  to  what  you 
call  The  Unseen,  says  her  place  is  just  as  real  as  your 
plane.  'We  have  steps,'  she  says.  'We  go  down  steps 
and  up  steps,  and  have  beautiful  gardens,  beautiful 
houses  and  everything  in  keeping.'  She  is  speaking 
of  a  beautiful  picture  being  enlarged." 

We  had  just  had  some  enlargements  made  of 
Louise's  photograph. 

"  'Speak  to  Mother  and  tell  her  the  flowers  are  real, 
just  the  same  as  they  were  in  the  rock  garden.  We  are 
going  out  to  the  rock'" — (pause).  "I  cannot 
quite  make  out  what  she  is  saying,"  said  the  medium. 
"She  speaks  of  a  little  garden  house — a  little  summer 
house.  She  is  speaking  of  something  so  lovely,  as  if 
saying — 'rock — rock — garden  ?'  Yes,  'rock-garden.' 
She  says  that  is  it.  She  seems  to  have  had  so  much 
enjoyment  there.  'I  am  speaking  about  the  past, 
Daddy.  There  are  flowers  in  the  garden.  Water  is 
just  running  out  from  the  house.'  It  seems  as  if  writ- 
ing has  been  done  there." 

Louise's  favorite  haunts  on  the  place  in  Connecticut 
were  the  little  summer  house  that  I  had  built  at  the 
entrance  to  our  garden,  and  a  tiny  rock  garden  that  I 
myself  had  constructed  on  the  right  side  of  the  en- 
trance to  the  grounds.  At  the  summit  of  this  little 


32          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

rock  garden  was  a  pool  which  we  used  to  fill  with 
water  brought  from  the  house  by  the  garden  hose. 
There  was  a  little  waterfall  and  a  toy  brook,  and  in  a 
rustic  seat  overlooking  this  miniature  landscape,  Louise 
loved  to  sit  and  write  her  letters. 

At  my  sitting  on  February  24,  there  were  other  ar- 
rivals whose  messages  stirred  recollections  of  years 
past,  but  none  whom  I  could  positively  identify,  until 
finally  Mrs.  S.  said:  "There  seems  to  be  a  wheel- 
barrow here;  you  seem  to  be  holding  it;  some  one  gets 
into  it — a  young  woman — and  you  are  going  down  a 
path." 

I  had  often  ridden  Louise  in  a  wheelbarrow  on  the 
garden  paths. 

"She  is  trying  to  call  a  name — 'K.'  Now  she  is  call- 
ing 'Papa'  and  she  is  calling  'Daddy.'  She  seems  to 
have  two  fathers.  She  is  speaking  of  an  aunt ;  and  yet 
it  isn't  exactly  an  aunt." 

"Auntie"  in  our  family  means  Louise's  great-aunt. 

"She  is  calling  'Dick.'  She  says  Dick  has  been 
relieved." 

"Dick"  was  her  fiance.  He  was  momentarily  ex- 
pected to  start  home  from  France. 

Suddenly  the  medium  mentioned  the  name  of 

Louise's  brother.  "She  says (giving  our  son's 

name)  is  coming  back.  He  will  take  off  his  hat  and 
hang  it  up.  She  is  speaking  of  the  time  she  saw  you 
last,  when  you  went  to  the  train  to  see  her  off.  She 
was  going  West. 

"She  is  trying  to  call  a  man's  name.  It  sounds  like 
'Bertram' ;  it  seems  to  go  with  a  name  like  'Crockett' ; 
that  is  what  she  seems  to  say.  I  seem  to  want  to  call 
the  name  of  Emery  R.'  " 


IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF  33 

That  sounded  as  if  it  might  be  "Emery  Rice,"  but 
more  did  not  come. 

"She  says,  'Tell  Daddy  not  to  feel  I  have  gone  to 
a  Land  of  Promise,  but  to  a  land  of  realities.  I  am 
living  in  the  body  again ;  am  in  the  home  just  as  when 
we  left  off.' 

"You  seem  to  have  in  your  pocket  something  that 
opens  and  shuts  that  belonged  to  Louise,"  said  the  me- 
dium. "I  want  to  hold  it." 

It  so  happened  that  in  my  pocket  was  a  small  pen- 
knife that  really  had  belonged  to  Louise.  I  gave  it 
to  Mrs.  S.  and  she  held  it  in  her  hand. 

"  'I  hear  water  trickling  down.  I  am  taken  to  a 
place  where  I  hear  it, — maybe  through  rocks.' ' 

This  recalled  the  rock  garden. 

Here  followed  some  minutes  during  which  discon- 
nected messages  seemed  to  come,  and  then  this : 

"I  hear  the  name  of  Smith,  or  something  similar — 
a  woman  who  was  cremated  or  burned.  Could  that 
have  been  thirteen  years  ago?  I  get  the  idea  that  she 
was  either  a  widow,  or  not  married." 

This  recalled  a  tragic  circumstance  that  happened 
at  just  about  the  date  mentioned  by  the  medium.  A 
woman  I  had  known  very  well  some  years  before  had 
murdered  her  husband,  or  supposed  husband,  whose 
name  was  Smith,  and  set  fire  to  their  house,  and  the 
bodies  of  both  were  found  in  the  ruins. 

At  my  next  meeting  with  Mrs.  S.,  in  March,  I  got 
a  great  deal  of  evidential  matter,  though  afterward  I 
still  doubted. 

Apparently,  Louise  came  at  once,  for  the  medium 
began :  "I  wish  you  would  answer  about  a  name  that 
sounds  like  'Bert.'  She  speaks  of  a  little  seat — a  rest- 
ing-place, a  bench.  She  seems  to  get  out  of  an  auto- 


34          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

mobile  to  sit  on  the  bench.  She  speaks  of  'Daddy/ 
She  is  speaking  of  your  brother  not  wanting  to  come 
out  of  the  body." 

My  brother  had  died  just  a  few  days  before. 

"He  is  now  conscious  of  a  new  body.  He  is  con- 
scious of  his  mother.  It  seems  as  if  she  wrapped 
something  up  in,  a  handkerchief.  If  she  would  not 
look  at  this  so  often,  it  would  help  him  and  also  help 
her." 

I  learned  afterwards  that  while  my  brother's  body 
lay  waiting  for  burial,  my  mother  had  cut  off  a  lock 
of  his  hair. 

After  an  interval  Louise  was  speaking  again :  "  'Tell 
Daddy  it  is  all  right  to  go  on  and  do  as  he  has  been 
doing.'  She  is  speaking  about  a  house.  It  seems  as 
if  you  have  been  in  a  quandary  as  to  what  to  do.  'Tell 
Daddy  to  go  on  as  he  started  to  do.  It  is  all  right.'  She 
is  speaking  of  summer  near  the  water  and  is  so  happy 
about  it.  Reminds  her  of  old  times." 

We  were  considering  renting  our  country  house  and 
building  a  small  camp  near  it. 

"  'There  seem  to  be  two  states  of  existence  in  living 
here;  one  that  is  normal,  enjoying  things  of  this  life, 
and  again  coming  down  and  enjoying  what  you  enjoy, 
in  the  selfsame  way.  Mother  must  dry  her  tears  as 
she  lays  aside  my  music  books,  because  I  sing  the  same 
songs  and  feel  the  same  love  and  joy.' 

"She  is  speaking  of  a  foster  sister  making  merry 
and  light-hearted  about  leaving.  She  says  an  opening 
has  been  made  to  set  the  child  free." 

Later,  the  medium  continued,  as  if  quoting  Louise: 

"  'I  weep  now  because  I  wanted  to  stay.  I  did  want 
to  stay.  I  weep  now  because  I  see  my  feeble  flutter- 
ings  in  trying  to  gain  a  true  thought  of  my  physical 


IN  QUEST  OF  PROOF  35 

life — but  it  was  not  to  be.  Now  I' have  gained  the 
true  body,  so  I  am  satisfied;  but  if  you  had  asked  me, 
Daddy,  to  make  a  choice,  I  would  have  stayed.  I 
wanted  to  stay  until  that  last  vision,  when  I  saw  and 
knew.  I  was  so  glad  there  was  another  place  for  me. 
Here  I  am  living,  I  find,  in  the  same  body  that  you 
knew  and  that  I  loved  and  mother  loved.  I  would 
say  my  ship  needs  a  little  steering — I  mean,  my  body — 
in  order  for  me  to  come  back  and  live  near  you,  but 
then  I  am  going  to  my  harbor  safe.  I  see  no  differ- 
ence, only  I  am  not  seeing  merely  through  a  veil.  That 
is  all  the  difference.  Your  book  will  make  me  happy, 
and  as  I  help  you,  it  will  really  make  me  feel  I  have 
not  lost  out.'  " 

She  had  urged  me  at  a  previous  sitting  to  write  a 
book. 

The  medium  resumed :  "Two  gentlemen  have  come 
in,  hand-in-hand.  One  has  a  name  that  sounds  like 
'Smith'  or  some  common  name,  similar  to  that.  One 
wants  to  say  'Professor  Reese.'  One  of  the  gentle- 
men wore  a  beard.  He  is  so  glad  you  are  here.  He 
pats  you  on  your  shoulder.  The  other  says  he  wants 
to  talk  about  chemistry — about  the  chemicals  of  the 
new  body.  They  are  both  trying  to  get  through  that 
they  know  you.  Do  you  recall  a  man  named  Simp- 
son?" 

Two  of  the  Professors  at  the  College  I  attended 
twenty-eight  years  before  were  Professors  Reese  and 
Simpson.  I  was  fond  of  both,  particularly  of  Pro- 
fessor Reese,  a  delightful  man  and  scholar,  who  wore 
a  beard.  Professor  Simpson  taught  chemistry. 

There  came  a  great  deal  more,  apparently  from 
different  spirits  that  had  known  me,  until  the  medium 
said :  "Louise  says  to  tell  you  that  it  is  like  a  passing 


36  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

show  here,  as  the  spirits  of  those  who  loved  you  when 
in  the  body  come  in  and  try  to  get  through  to  speak 
to  you.  If  you  just  knew -how  happy  it  makes  one 
living  in  the  astral  body  to  come  down  to  you  in  the 
physical  plane,  realizing  that  they  can  speak  to  you! 
She  says  she  will  sing  in  your  mind;  that  her  voice 
will  register  and  will  soothe  you,  but  the  vibration  of 
the  physical  plane  cannot  catch  the  echo  of  the  vibra- 
tion of  the  spirit.  That  is  why  you  have  not  heard 
when  she  has  spoken  to  you." 


VIOLET 


CHAPTER  IV 

VIOLET 

AFTER  her  very  first  visit  to  Mrs.  S.,  when  her 
children's  father  so  unexpectedly  came  through 
from  the  spirit  world  to  urge  on  her  the  care 
of  the  child  of  his  second  marriage,  D.  lost  no  time 
in  responding  to  his  wish.  So  completely  had  his 
family  dispersed  that  it  was  more  than  a  month  before 
the  child's  address  could  be  found.  She  was  so  far 
away  that  to  go  to  see  her  or  to  have  her  come  on 
at  that  time  was  out  of  the  question.  And  so  a  letter 
was  written  telling  Violet  of  the  relationship,  and  of 
her  sister  who  had  gone  and  her  half-brother.  Her 
reply  was  all  that  could  have  been  wished,  and  showed 
for  a  little  girl  only  twelve  years  old  a  depth  of  feel- 
ing almost  unbelievable. 

She  had  never  heard  of  D.  or  of  the  latter's  children, 
and  as  an  orphan  and  an  only  child,  hers  had  been  a 
very  dreary  little  life.  A  very  animated  correspond- 
ence was  begun  and  continued,  and  her  letters  were 
all  so  full  of  love  for  D.  and  for  the  newly-discovered 
soldier  brother,  that  it  did  not  seem  odd  when  she 
began  to  call  the  former,  "Mother."  And  so  it  was 
that  six  months  after  we  had  first  learned  of  her  exist- 
ence, she  came  to  spend  her  vacation  with  us — the 
happiest  of  her  life,  she  now  says. 

It  was  difficult  to  induce  her  to  tell  her  story,  but 

39 


40  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

little  by  little  we  pieced  it  together.  It  would  require 
one  such  as  the  creator  of  "Oliver  Twist"  to  do  justice 
to  that  sorrowful  little  tale.  I  can  only  set  it  down 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  her  own  words,  as  we  got  it 
from  her  from  time  to  time,  and  bit  by  bit. 


THE  STORY  OF  VIOLET 

I  suppose  I  was  always  happy  before  my  mother 
died.  I  was  only  five  then,  but  I  can  remember  how 
sweet  and  good  she  was  to  me.  Even  in  those  last 
months  of  her  painful  illness  there  was  a  Christmas 
tree  and  a  birthday  party — the  last  I  was  to  know  for 
several  years. 

My  father  was  in  the  timber  and  lumber  business 
and  he  had  to  go  away  from  home  a  great  deal.  He 
had  quarreled  with  my  mother's  parents  and  would  not 
let  them  take  care  of  me,  although  they  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  do  so.  Instead,  he  advertised  for  some 
motherly  woman  who  would  be  willing  to  have  me 
live  in  her  home  and  look  after  me.  At  this  time  he 
did  not  have  very  much  money,  and  he  owed  a  lot,  so 
I  think  this  seemed  to  him  the  best  way  to  deal  with 
the  problem  of  me.  No  real,  motherly  woman  seemed 
to  answer  father's  advertisement,  and  the  first  strange 
house  I  actually  lived  in  was  that  of  two  elderly  sisters, 
both  unmarried.  I  believe  they  tried  to  be  kind,  but 
they  did  not  understand  little  girls,  and  many  a  night 
I  cried  myself  to  sleep  because  I  was  so  lonely.  Fa- 
ther's short  visits  were  the  only  bright  spots  in  my  life 
at  this  time,  and  on  one  of  these  he  found  me  so  sad 
that  he  changed  my  home,  and  I  next  went  to  live  with 
a  married  woman  and  her  grown-up  daughter. 

All  the  toys  that  had  been  given  me  in  my  happy 


VIOLET  41 

days  went  with  me.  My  dolls  were  my  only  friends 
and  they  seemed  just  like  people.  I  suppose  this  wo- 
man was  not  unkind,  but  she  just  couldn't  bear  seeing 
toys  scattered  about.  She  said  they  were  disorderly 
and  that  they  took  up  too  much  room.  One  day  she 
robbed  me  of  all  of  them,  and  gave  them  to  a  little 
German  girl  who  lived  in  the  same  street.  That  is,  she 
wanted  to  give  them  all,  but  she  did  not  get  my  Teddy 
Bear,  because  I  clung  to  it,  crying,  and  kicking,  too,  I 
fear.  I  just  could  not  bear  to  part  with  Teddy,  be- 
cause his  woolly  head  always  lay  close  to  mine  when  I 
went  to  sleep,  and  he  seemed,  sometimes,  to  be  my  only 
friend.  My  mother  had  given  him  to  me  on  my  third 
birthday,  and  he  was  the  dearest  of  all  my  toys.  The 
little  German  girl's  mother  was  the  woman's  closest 
friend,  so  often  I  used  to  see  my  dear  dollies  being 
nursed,  and  very  badly  too,  by  that  awful  little  per- 
son. I  would  not  let  Teddy  out  of  my  sight  in  those 
days,  for  he  was  the  last  treasure  I  had. 

When  my  father  came  on  his  next  visit,  I  told  him 
how  unhappy  I  was,  for  it  really  broke  my  heart  to 
see  that  little  Gretchen  taking  out  in  my  doll  carriage 
my  beautiful  Marion  with  her  real,  curly  hair,  her 
great  big  brown  eyes,  and  her  beautiful  complexion; 
and  to  see  Marion  wearing  her  very  best  dress  on 
week  days  worried  me  a  lot.  My  poor  little  rag  dolls, 
so  faithful  always,  so  ready  to  listen,  and  so  nice  to 
cuddle,  did  not  count  at  all,  as  I  could  plainly  see  when 
I  spied  through  the  picket  fence,  for  they  were  just 
kicked  about.  I  really  felt  just  like  one  of  them. 

Although  Father  laughed  at  that  when  I  told  him,  he 
came  to  know  that  I  was  truly  unhappy  and  promised 
to  find  me  a  happier  place  to  live  in.  One  day  he  came 
back  very  much  pleased.  He  had  found  just  the  sort 


42  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

of  place  we  had  dreamt  about — out  in  the  country,  on 
a  large  stock  farm,  and  near  a  good  school.  The  wo- 
man who  managed  it  was  lonely  and  would  love  to 
have  a  little  girl  for  company.  This  was  a  very  long 
way  from  Detroit,  our  home,  and  when  father  left 
me  I  didn't  know  that  it  would  be^several  months  be- 
fore I  would  see  him  again. 

He  had  hardly  gone,  after  telling  me  many  times 
to  be  a  good  little  girl  and  to  try  to  be  happy  in  this 
lovely  place,  when  my  new  guardian  told  me  to  stop 
crying,  as  she  wished  to  teach  me  how  to  set  the  table 
for  supper. 

She  showed  me  the  longest  table  I  had  ever  seen 
and  I  helped  her  spread  over  it  a  red,  checkered  cloth. 
I  was  very  glad,  after  we  put  sixteen  plates  on  the 
table,  because  I  thought  it  must  mean  that  there  would 
be  many  children,  some  of  whom  might  be  playmates. 
I  enjoyed  this  work  so  much  and  put  my  whole  soul 
into  it.  When  it  was  done,  my  guardian,  who  seemed 
to  be  pleased  with  the  way  I  learned,  gave  me  a  large 
pan  of  cold  potatoes  to  peel  and  slice  while  she  made 
cornbread.  When  I  had  finished  this  task,  one  that  I 
had  never  had  to  do  before,  my  hands  were  cramped 
and  shaking.  However,  I  was  delighted  when  she  told 
me  that  I  would  be  a  very  useful  little  girl. 

Then  rough-looking  men  began  to  come  in  and  took 
turns  washing  at  the  sink  before  going  to  the  table. 
Some  of  them  noticed  me  and  joked  Mrs.  R.  about 
her  "new  cook."  They  weren't  exactly  unkind,  but 
their  manners  frightened  me.  I  kept  looking  for  chil- 
dren to  come  in  with  them,  but  none  did,  except  the 
twelve-year-old  son  of  my  guardian,  whom  she  met 
with  hugs  and  kisses  and  questions  about  what  he  had 
been  doing.  I  wished  somebody  would  ta'ke  some  in- 


VIOLET  43 

terest  in  me.  She  pointed  me  out  to  the  boy  and  said 
she  hoped  we  would  be  friends.  He  gave  me  a  long, 
stony  stare  and  shrugged  his  shoulders,  but  said  noth- 
ing, and  I  cannot  remember  that  he  ever  said  a  kind 
word  to  me  during  all  the  time  I  stayed  under  his 
mother's  roof.  I  was  only  seven,  and  his  threatening 
frowns  easily  frightened  me.  He  never  actually  struck 
me,  but  often  he  acted  as  though  he  was  going  to  do 
so,  and  I  kept  as  far  away  from  him  as  possible.  It 
only  made  his  mother  laugh  to  see  how  he  could  scare 
me  without  touching  me. 

I  don't  suppose  I  can  ever  forget  that  first  night. 
After  supper  Mrs.  R.  said :  "I  am  so  tired  I  wonder 
if  you  would  be  a  smart  girl  and  wash  the  dishes?" 

So  I  washed  the  whole  lot  and  wiped  them  all,  and 
then  set  the  table  for  breakfast.  She  laughed  because 
I  was  so  awkward,  but  it  was  hard  work  and  very  late 
when  I  finished.  I  think  I  must  have  been  already 
asleep  when  she  led  me  upstairs,  for  I  did  not  notice 
until  morning  that  I  was  not  sleeping  in  a  bed,  but  on 
a  pile  of  old  comfortables  spread  on  the  floor  of  what 
looked  like  a  good-sized  closet,  without  any  windows. 
The  door  opened  on  a  hall,  and  the  only  air  and  light 
came  through  the  doorway.  The  house  was  very  large, 
but  the  thirteen  farmhands  all  lived  there,  so  the  closet 
was  the  only  room  left  for  me.  You  see  Father  did 
not  often  talk  to  people  about  little  things,  and  he  for- 
got to  ask  to  see  where  I  was  going  to  sleep,  for  I 
am  sure  he  would  not  have  left  me  there  had  he  known. 
He  just  paid  for  my  board  and  care,  and  I  suppose  he 
thought  that  in  that  great  big  house  I  would  surely  be 
given  a  comfortable  room. 

My  first  morning  in  this  new  home  was  a  very  busy 
time.  I  helped  make  beds,  wash  dishes  and  scrub. 


44  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Mrs.  R.  stood  over  me  and  showed  me  how  to  scrub 
the  kitchen  floor  and  told  me  I  should  always  have  to 
keep  it  clean.  I  tried  hard  to  do  as  she  said,  but  I 
broke  down  many  times  over  this  task,  sobbing  as  if 
my  heart  would  break.  !  I  was  so  homesick  and  had 
such  a  terrible,  gnawing  pain.  Of  course,  I  loved  my 
father,  but  I  felt  that  he  had  gone  back  on  me. 

Winter  was  coming  and  I  began  to  go  to  school. 
There  were  only  half-day  sessions,  and  after  I  helped 
get  breakfast  ready,  I  had  to  trudge  three  miles  to 
the  schoolhouse  and  then  back.  I  liked  school,  and  I 
worked  very  hard  to  learn  to  write.  More  than  any- 
thing else,  I  wanted  to  be  able  to  write  a  letter  to  my 
father  telling  him  just  how  everything  was  with  me. 

Almost  every  minute  that  I  did  not  spend  at  school, 
or  going  and  coming,  I  had  to  do  house-work.  Help 
was  hard  to  get,  so  I  had  no  time  at  all  to  myself  ex- 
cept when  I  was  in  school.  Mrs.  R.  soon  became  very 
hard  and  cross  with  me,  and  many  a  slap,  and  often  a 
beating,  taught  me  that  I  must  do  my  work  well. 
Nothing  was  ever  said  about  doing  anything  to  make 
me  happier,  and  I  know  now  that  I  grew  silent  and 
sullen,  for  the  harsh  treatment  made  me  brood  a  great 
deal  over  my  miserable  little  lot.  It  was  impossible  to 
tuck  the  covering  around  me  at  night,  and  I  used  to 
get  very  cold  as  well  as  very  much  frightened  in  my 
dark  closet  those  long,  dreary  nights.  It  was  a  very 
cold  winter  and  there  was  no  heat  in  that  part  of  the 
house,  so  I  soon  developed  rheumatism  in  my  hips  and 
knees,  which  I  still  have.  Of  course,  it  was  very  pain- 
ful to  walk  to  school  with  the  terrible  aching  in  my 
hips  and  knees,  but  I  used  to  bite  my  lips  and  just  make 
my  feet  carry  me,  because  I  could  not  bear  to  have  my 
only  source  of  pleasure  taken  away. 


VIOLET  45 

In  the  spring  Father  came  to  see  me,  and  he  seemed 
much  depressed  at  my  condition.  He  had  a  stormy 
scene  with  Mrs.  R.,  who  had  treated  me  so  cruelly, 
and  took  me  away,  declaring  he  would  never  part  with 
me  again.  I  was  very,  very  happy.  It  was  really  joy 
to  be  clasped  in  his  loving  arms  once  more  and  to  hear 
his  merry  laugh.  He  was  really  very  fascinating  and 
I  just  adored  him.  He  tried  hard  to  keep  me  with 
him  at  hotels  and  boarding  houses,  but  on  account  of 
his  business  he  had  to  be  away  a  great  deal,  and  my 
life  soon  became  one  of  confusion — going  about  from 
place  to  place,  seeing  nobody  but  strangers  and  only 
living  for  the  times  when  Father  could  actually  be 
with  me. 

After  a  while  he  thought  he  had  found  a  way  of 
having  me  properly  looked  after.  Across  the  river 
from  Detroit  was  a  convent,  where  he  placed  me,  and 
where  I  spent  some  happy,  peaceful  moments  with  the 
sweet  sisters,  who  tried  to  ease  the  pains  in  my  body, 
from  which  I  still  suffered,  and  to  soothe  the  aching 
which  still  seemed  to  burn  my  heart  and  mind. 

But  it  seemed  as  if  I  could  not  have  peace  long,  for 
on  a  reception  day  Father  came  to  see  me  and  met  the 
mother  of  one  of  the  older  pupils  in  the  school.  They 
talked  a  long  time.  She  was  a  widow,  and  both  com- 
plained of  the  loneliness  of  their  lives  and  told  of  theic 
longing  for  a  home ;  she,  for  her  fatherless  child,  and 
he  for  motherless  little  me.  After  a  few  weeks  the 
school  term  ended,  and  this  woman  and  my  father 
got  married,  and  we  all  went  to  live  together  in  a 
house  that  my  father  called  "home."  He  seemed  very 
proud  of  it  and  said  to  me,  "No  more  unhappiness  for 
you,  my  darling." 

His  wife  had  seemed  kind  as  long  as  I  saw  her  at 


46  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

the  convent,  and  I  was  so  glad  to  call  her  "Mother," 
and  to  feel  that  some  one  was  willing  to  act  as  a 
mother  to  me.  But  it  was  not  long  before  she  proved 
to  be  just  as  bad  as  any  step-mother  I  had  ever  read 
about  Maybe  part  of  it  was  due  to  her  being  dis- 
appointed in  Father.  At  least,  I  know  she  was  dis- 
appointed about  money.  He  always  felt  and  talked 
like  a  rich  man,  but  there  never  was  enough  money 
for  simple  comforts,  let  alone  other  things.  I  soon 
found  I  could  never  do  anything  to^  please  my  step- 
mother, though  I  tried  very  hard,  and  she  seemed  to  be 
able  to  turn  everything  into  an  excuse  to  punish  me. 
Her  own  daughter,  nearly  twice  my  age,  was  very 
mischievous.  She  would  break  a  dish,  eat  the  cake 
intended  for  supper,  or  upset  the  furniture,  and  say 
that  I  had  done  it.  Then  I  would  be  beaten  while 
that  girl  looked  on  and  laughed.  I  was  never  believed 
when  I  told  the  truth.  Of  course,  I  was  not  perfect, 
and  my  wrongs  often  made  me  want  to  be  naughty  at 
times,  and  of  course,  that  was  never  overlooked.  I 
often  wonder  now  at  the  time  and  strength  my  step- 
mother spent  on  my  wretched  back.  She  seemed  to 
be  always  angry  and  always  screaming.  I  was  kept 
thoroughly  scared,  fearing  always  what  was  going  to 
happen  next.  I  never  knew  what  to  do  to  please  her. 
It  was  really  a  very  little  thing  that  finally  happened 
to  free  me  from  her.  A  neighbor,  who  had  a  good 
,  deal  of  curiosity,  one  day  heard  sounds  of  quarreling, 
beating  and  screams  from  what  we  called  home,  and 
afterwards  waited  for  me  down  the  street  and  began  to 
ask  questions.  Although  I  didn't  tell  her  anything, 
because  I  had  learned  when  very  small  not  to  talk, 
my  step-mother  heard  of 'the  meeting  and  accused  me 
of  complaining.  She  seemed  just  crazy  with  anger 


VIOLET  47 

and  grabbed  me  and  took  me  to  the  cellar.  There  she 
beat  me  terribly  with  a  trunk  strap.  At  the  end  of  this 
was  a  buckle  which  cut  my  back  and  arms.  When  she 
stopped  I  felt  very  weak.  The  only  mercy  she  showed 
was  to  order  me  to  bed  when  she  finished.  She  told  me 
I  was  to  stay  there  without  food  for  twenty- four  hours. 
I  lay  there  and  suffered  and  brooded,  and  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  must  run  away.  If  I  stayed  I  felt  I  should 
go  crazy. 

Father  returned  from  one  of  his  business  trips  while 
I  was  still  in  bed,  and  when  he  saw  my  bruises  was 
forced  to  believe  that  I  was  cruelly  treated.  He  was  so 
terribly  angry  that  he  could  not  speak,  but  he  helped 
me  to  put  on  my  clothes  and  pack  my  trunk.  Then 
he  took  me  to  my  dear  grandmother  from  whom  he 
had  so  long  kept  me,  and  begged  her  humbly  to  take 
charge  of  me. 

My  grandparents  were  just  breaking  up  their  little 
home  and  were  leaving  for  the  far  West  in  a  few  days. 
It  was  arranged  that  I  should  go  with  them,  and  Fa- 
ther promised  he  would  come  out  and  see  me  soon. 
He  came  to  the  station  to  say  "Good-by,"  looking  so 
sad  and  careworn.  I  never  saw  him  again.  Nine 
months  later  he  died  very  suddenly. 

One  morning  I  came  to  breakfast  and  told  my  grand- 
parents that  I  had  seen  my  father  fall  with  a  terrific 
crash  right  on  his  head.  Later  that  morning  came  a 
"telegram  telling  of  his  death,  and  afterwards  we 
learned  that  he  had  died  just  exactly  as  I  had  described 
it  to  my  grandparents  before  the  news  reached  us. 

The  loss  of  my  father  made  me  very  miserable.  His 
letters  were  always  so  full  of  hope  and  promises  for 
the  future.  My  step-mother,  who  he  had  so  fondly 
hoped  would  make  a  home  for  me,  had  disappeared 


48  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

after  we  left  her,  and  I  have  never  heard  of  her  since. 


Violet  had  been  with  us  a  week  when  one  day,  while 
she  was  marketing  in  Stamford  with  D.,  she  espied,  in 
a  toyshop  window,  what  is  known  as  a  communica- 
tion board.  Violet  said  she  had  heard  of  such  things, 
and  thought  she  would  like  one  to  play  with.  Neither 
D.  nor  I  ever  thought  of  the  contrivance  as  anything 
more  serious  than  a  plaything,  run  by  the  imagination 
and  a  little  aid  from  the  human  hand.  To  the  child's 
wide-eyed  amazement,  the  little  indicator  began  to  have 
something  to  say  almost  as  soon  as  the  directions  had 
been  carefully  read  and  fingers  placed  upon  it.  A 
friend  who  was  stopping  with  us  put  her  hands  on  the 
indicator  at  the  same  time  with  the  child,  making  the 
first  trial,  and  when  D.  saw  it  moving  she  thought  the 
other  was  doing  it  for  the  mystification  of  the  little 
girl,  and  could  but  admire  her  skill  in  duplicity.  But 
when  she  asserted  she  had  not  in  any  way  manipulated 
the  indicator  or  even  assisted  it  to  move,  D.  became  in- 
terested, and  our  investigations  soon  led  us  into  fields 
where  we  had  never  hoped  to  tread — nay  in  whose 
existence  we  had  never  fully  believed.  Far  more,  a 
summer  which  had  begun  in  grief  and  emptiness  and 
the  longing  that  hopes  not  for  fulfillment  grew  into 
one  of  such  happiness  as  we  did  not  dream  would  be 
ours  again ;  for  Louise  spent  the  season  with  us  in  the 
tiny  camp,  talked  with  us  daily,  and  through  various 
means  of  communication  made  herself  a  real  part  of 
our  life. 


THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS 

IF  the  only  evidence  available  were  the  working  of 
a  tiny  table  on  a  board,  it  would  be  next  to  impos- 
sible to  persuade  a  person  of  intelligence  and  so- 
phistication that  communication  with  those  that  have 
gone  is  possible.  The  chances  for  trickery  are  too 
many  and  faith  in  human  nature  is  too  small.  A  prac- 
tical joker  can,  with  little  practice,  deceive  the  unwary ; 
and  for  my  part  I  never  regarded  the  thing  as  any- 
thing more  than  a  toy  until  the  messages  purporting 
to  come  through  it  had  been  fortified  by  evidence  of  a 
totally  different  and  more  convincing  character. 

Before  the  emotions  aroused  by  the  Great  War 
caused  a  general  awakening  of  interest  in  the  possi- 
bility of  getting  into  some  sort  of  touch  with  those 
who,  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  materialists, 
had  suddenly  quit  this  life  and  vanished  into  an  obliv- 
ion from  which  there  was  no  return,  I  believe  that, 
with  the  exception  of  certain  scientific  investigators, 
only  the  naturally  superstitious  looked  upon  the  talking 
board  as  anything  more  than  a  plaything.  Those  gul- 
lible souls  who  took  it  seriously  for  the  most  part 
regarded  it  as  a  sort  of  oracle,  to  be  asked  questions 
about  the  future — the  stock  market,  investments,  the 
possibility  of  acquiring  riches,  and,  in  many  cases, 
the  date  of  one's  death.  This  was  illustrated  forcibly 
to  me  one  day  when  D.  had  some  little  Italian  children 


52  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

over  for  a  visit.  They  discovered  our  communication 
board  and  began  to  play  with  it.  The  first  question 
propounded  was: 

"Weejyweejywhen'migointodie?"  which,  being  in- 
terpreted, was,  "Ouija,  Ouija,  when  am  I  going  to 
die?" 

Of  course,  there  is  no  such  person  or  spiritual  agent 
as  "Ouija."  The  name  is  merely  a  combination  of 
the  French  "oui"  with  the  German  "ja,"  and  the  term 
means  simply,  "Yes,  yes." 

After  watching  Violet  and  D.  using  the  board  for 
several  evenings,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
child  was  perfectly  innocent  of  any  intent  to  deceive 
us;  and,  of  course,  I  was  as  sure  of  my  wife's  honesty 
as  of  my  own,  and  when  I  took  the  board  with  Violet, 
the  indicator  moved  as  freely  as  when  D.  sat  with  the 
child.  I  could  feel  the  little  instrument  vibrate  as  if 
charged  with  an  electric  current,  and  I  believed,  for  a 
time,  that  Violet  must  have  some  strong  magnetic 
power  that  we  lacked,  for  with  D.  and  myself  only, 
the  indicator  would  not  budge,  and  stood  as  if  dead. 
Naturally  I  had  studied  psychology,  and  I  fancy  my 
long  experience  as  a  teacher  and  newspaper  man  re- 
vealed facts  about  the  subject  in  practice  that  most 
theorists  do  not  emphasize.  My  conviction  for  some 
days  was  that,  as  Violet  could  not  possibly  have  known 
even  the  trifling  little  things  which  were  so  evidential 
of  Louise,  some  of  these  might  have  been  communi- 
cated from  our  subconsciousness  to  that  of  the  child. 
And  yet,  the  answers  to  our  questions  were  so  fre- 
quently exactly  the  opposite  of  what  we  could  have 
expected,  and  so  completely  out  of  the  knowledge  and 
even  the  vocabulary  of  Violet  that  my  theory  of  sub- 
consciousness  had  to  be  abandoned. 


THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS     53 

Perhaps  it  was  partly  because  of  my  continued 
skepticism  that  a  demand  early  came  through  the 
board  that  we  use  a  table.  To  me,  looking  back  over 
the  events  of  the  summer  just  gone,  it  seems  as  if  the 
whole  course  of  our  experience  followed  a  plan  pre- 
viously laid  down  by  Louise  or  by  agents  cooperating 
with  her,  for  the  story  unfolded  was  progressive  as  the 
various  means  of  communication  were  progressive. 
One  may  doubt  the  origin  of  messages  spelled  out  on 
a  board  or  written  by  a  pencil  in  the  hands  of  a  human 
being;  but  when  an  object  without  visible  or  discover- 
able motive  power  appears  to  lift  itself,  and  actually 
rises  in  the  air,  only  a  simpleton  could  explain  such  an 
occurrence  by  "subconsciousness"  or  any  agency 
known  to  the  human  senses.  The  law  of  gravitation  is 
too  well  established.  My  own  doubts  as  to  the  extra- 
physical  origin  of  what  we  were  experiencing  lingered 
until  I  had  seen  the  principle  of  gravitation  defied  and 
made  sport  of,  and  had  felt  an  opposition  of  strong 
force  against  my  own  muscular  efforts.  Not  until  then 
was  I  ready  to  admit  the  possibility  that  spirit  mes- 
sages may  actually  come  to  us,  and  to  believe  that  what 
had  been  spelled  out  on  the  cheap,  commercial  toy  we 
had  been  using  were  actually  messages  from  Louise. 

On  my  first  visit  to  the  professional  medium,  last 
winter,  a  message  purporting  to  come  directly  from 
Louise  had  urged  me  to  write  all  that  I  should  see  and 
hear.  However,  it  had  fallen  upon  the  ears  of  a  very 
busy  man,  and  so  far  I  had  seen  or  heard  nothing 
that  I  believed  would  be  of  interest  beyond  the  circle 
of  those  who  had  known  Louise  and  us.  Reportorial 
habit  had  compelled  me  to  take  notes.  What  I  am  now 
writing  is  the  result  of  repetitions  of  the  request  from 
Louise  during  the  summer,  backed  up  by  the  expressed 


54  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

desire  of  those  who  helped  her  in  establishing  to  us  the 
reality  of  her  presence  with  us.  This  chronicle  I  am 
not  setting  down  in  a  solemn  frame  of  mind.  It 
abounds  in  trivialities;  but  to  us  these  supplied  evi- 
dence and  assurance  that  formal  or  oracular  messages 
could  not  have  given.  Louise  was  seldom  solemn,  and 
what  has  been  revealed  to  us  shows  many  of  the  traits 
that  so  endeared  her  not  only  to  us  but  to  a  wide  circle 
of  friends  that  enjoyed  those  brief  years  of  her  in- 
fancy, girlhood  and  young  womanhood. 

I  did  not  treat  the  new  toy  seriously  at  first,  as 
has  been  told.  Neither  D.  nor  I  had  any  magnetic  or 
psychical  power  whatsoever,  and  I  paid  no  attention 
to  it  until  I  went  home  from  town  on  the  evening  of 
July  1 8,  to  find  my  wife  and  Violet  in  a  state  of  con- 
siderable excitement.  They  told  of  a  long  experience 
they  had  had  that  afternoon  with  the  board,  and  how 
some  one  that  to  the  mother  identified  herself  as  Louise 
had  given  many  characteristic  messages.  Nobody  had 
made  any  record.  It  was  not  until  Sunday,  two  days 
later,  that  I  decided  to  try  the  thing  for  myself. 

Of  course,  I  discovered  immediately  that  the  motive 
power  was  furnished  in  some  way  by  Violet.  None  of 
us  could  do  anything  with  the  indicator  except  when 
she  put  a  finger  upon  it,  when  it  would  fly  about  from 
letter  to  letter  as  if  some  strong,  intelligent  force  were 
pushing  or  pulling  it  as  it  willed. 

The  conversation  we  had  that  Sunday  I  took  down 
word  for  word,  and  I  am  going  to  set  it  down  just  as 
I  wrote  it. 

D.  asked :    "Is  there  any  one  here?" 

Immediately  the  indicator  shot  across  the  board  to 
"Yes,"  and  then  this  dialogue  ensued: 

"It  is  Louise,  isn't  it?" 


THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS    55 

"Yes." 

"How  long  after  you  passed  over  did  you  realize 
you  were  in  another  world  ?" 

"Five  minutes." 

"Did  you  realize  at  once  what  had  happened?" 

"Yes." 

"Were  you  happy  about  it?" 

"Yes." 

"Did  any  one  you  know  meet  you  on  the  other 
side?" 

"Yes;  Grandpa,  Father  and  Uncle  Edward." 

"How  long  was  it  before  you  saw  Archie?" 

This  was  an  uncle  who  was  killed  when  a  boy  by 
being  thrown  from  a  horse. 

"About  one-half  hour,"  was  the  reply  to  D.'s  ques- 
tion. 

"Had  he  grown  to  be  a  man?" 

"Yes." 

"How  long  before  you  became  accustomed  to  new 
conditions  ?" 

"One-half  day." 

"You  were  more  or  less  prepared  before  you  left?" 

"No." 

"Had  not  you  been  thinking  about  these  things?" 

"A  little." 

A  little  later  D.  said,  "We  are  going  to  dinner." 

"Put  a  place  for  me,"  the  indicator  spelled. 

"Where?" 

"Between  you  and  Brother.  I  will  come  after  lunch. 
Good-by." 

After  our  midday  dinner  we  resumed. 

"Are  you  here,  Louise?" 

"Yes." 


56          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Do  you  think  the  empty  chair  at  the  table  was  a 
success  ?" 

"Yes." 

"Don't  you  think  it  made  us  all  a  little  depressed?" 

"Yes." 

"Then  why  did  you  wish  to  do  it?" 

"I  don't  want  to  be  left  out." 

"Cannot  you  come  and  perch  on  Mother's  shoulder 
just  as  well?" 

"I  don't  know — yes." 

"It  makes  me  sad  to  see  the  empty  chair." 

"It  wasn't  empty." 

"Have  you  anything  to  say  about  dinner  to-day?" 

"Yes,  it  tasted  very  good.  Henriette  is  a  good 
cook." 

"What  did  we  do  when  Mrs.  Blank  was  here  ?" 

The  board  spelled  out,  "Motored,  talked,  ate" — and 
there  was  a  pause — "drank." 

As  was  our  custom  on  Sundays,  while  it  was  still 
possible,  we  had  had  wine  with  our  dinner. 

"Do  you  think  we  would  be  better  off  if  we  did  not 
drink  at  all?"  D.  asked. 

(Decidedly)  "Yes." 

"But  Prohibition  has  come  in,  and  we  won't  have 
anything  very  much  longer." 

The  table  spelled  out :  "You've  got  a  lot." 

"Where  is  it?" 

"Home." 

"Whereabouts  at  home?" 

The  board  spelled  "L-a-b." 

Our  small  store  was  really  in  a  room  in  our  apart- 
ment we  called  the  "laboratory,"  but  which  Louise  al- 
ways referred  to  as  "the  lab."  Violet  knew  nothing 


THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS     57 

of  this.  As  a  matter  of  fact  she  had  not  even  seen 
our  apartment  in  New  York. 

"Do  you  remember  the  name  of  Brother's  Y.D. 
(Yankee  Division)  friend  you  said  had  'come  over* 
recently  ?" 

"Edward  Lind." 

This  will  be  explained  later. 

I  asked,  "Don't  you  think  Mother  worries  too 
much?" 

"Yes." 

"You  must  help  her  to  stop  worrying." 

"Yes." 

"What  can  you  do  for  me?"  D.  asked. 

The  indicator  spelled  out:  "Impress  it  upon  your 
mind  that  I  am  here." 

"But  people  are  skeptical." 

"Yes." 

Louise  had  said  that  the  little  dogs  she  had  had 
when  a  child,  Biddy,  an  Irish  terrier,  and  Chico,  a 
Maltese  terrier,  were  with  her  all  the  time.  She  said 
that  pets  that  one  has  loved  during  this  life,  and  de- 
sires in  the  future  life,  attend  one. 

"Do  Biddy  and  Chico  follow  you?"  asked  D. 

"No." 

"Do  they  walk  by  your  side?" 

"Yes — sometimes." 

"Do  you  think  you  can  ever  do  automatic  writing?" 

"Yes,  and  no."  Then  "Yes"  was  repeated  followed 
by  "In  time." 

"Can  you  do  automatic  writing  now?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"Do  you  know  how  I  should  prepare  for  automatic 
writing?" 

"Don't  know." 


58  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Would  it  be  good  to  stay  for  a  long  time  concen- 
trating with  a  pencil  in  one's  hand?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  you  remember  a  little  name  you  used  to  call 
me  when  you  wrote  me  sometimes?" 

"  'Dear  Mummy/  " 

Violet  did  not  know  this. 

"There  was  another  name  you  used.  Don't  you 
remember?" 

"It  is  very  hard  to  remember  names." 

We  had  expected  a  great  friend  of  Louise's,  now 
married,  to  come  over  that  evening,  but  he  telephoned 
just  then  that  he  could  not  come  because  his  wife  had 
left  him  to  mind  the  babies. 

D.  said:  "Robert  cannot  come  over  to  talk  with 
vou.  What  has  he  got  to  do?" 

"Nurse!" 

The  next  evening,  after  answering  a  few  questions, 
the  indicator  began  gyrating  violently  on  the  board. 

"Why  do  you  do  that?" 

"To  get  it  off  the  sticky  place." 

"Where  is  the  sticky  place?" 

"Different  places." 

"Is  it  due  to  the  weather?" 

"I  don't  know." 

The  indicator  now  manifested  great  activity. 

"Can  you  do  a  figure  '8,'  as  in  skating?" 

Immediately  the  indicator  described  an  "8." 

"You  dance,  don't  you?" 

"Yes." 

"What  else  do  you  do  for  amusement  ?" 

"Different  things." 

"Do  you  sing  a  great  deal.?" 

"Yes." 


THE  STRANGE  SUMMER  BEGINS     59 

"You  told  me  to-day  your  music  had  put  you  in 
select  company." 

"Yes." 

"What  great  composers'  works  are  you  familiar 
with  there?" 

The  indicator  spelled,  "Mendelssohn." 

At  this  point,  Henriette,  the  maid,  who  was  very 
skeptical,  came  out  on  the  porch  and  sat  down.  The 
indicator  would  not  work  while  she  was  there.  Finally 
it  said  that  it  wanted  Henriette  to  go  away,  and  she 
was  sent  on  an  errand. 

"Do  you  know  the  work  of  any  other  great  com- 
poser?" 

The  indicator  spelled,  "Heller." 

"Did  not  he  write  beautiful  exercises?" 

"Yes,  and  compositions." 

"Can  you  think  of  any  special  composition  of  his?" 

The  indicator  spelled  "  'Dance  of — no,  'Flower 
Dance.' " 

Later  we  found  out  that  Louise  had  not  written  this 
last  sentence.  This  will  be  explained  further  on. 

At  some  of  our  later  questions  the  indicator  glided 
so  frequently  to  the  little  "isle  of  safety"  as  D.  had 
named  the  "I  don't  know"  at  the  top  of  the  board 
that  she  protested.  The  indicator  spelled  out,  "You'll 
know  enough,  little  by  little.  All  knowledge  doesn't 
come  at  once.  It  may  take  years,  years,  years." 

"But  'Raymond'  has  told  a  great  deal  about  condi- 
tions in  your  world." 

"Yes.    A  little  at  a  time.    Not  all  at  once." 

"Tell  us  some  little  thing  to  put  in  the  book  that 
will  make  people  happier." 

"I  just  want  a  subject  to  speak  on." 


60  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Are  Christianity  and  Judaism  reconciled  on  the 
other  side?" 

"To  a  certain  extent.  There  are  many  Jewish  people 
that  have  received  more  light  than  Christians." 

"About  the  Divinity  of  Christ:  Christianity  holds 
that  He  is  the  Son  of  God.  Can  you  say  whether  this 
belief  is  true?" 

"Yes.    That  belief  is  correct." 

"Do  you  mean  by  that  Christ  was  Godlike?" 

"No,  He  was  really  the  Son  of  God." 

"Then  the  Immaculate  Conception  is  not  merely  a 
religious  tenet?" 

"No,  an  absolute  fact." 

"Are  religious  sects  more  or  less  obliterated  in  the 
other  life?" 

"This  is  enough  for  to-night.     Good-by." 


THROUGH  THE  BOARD 


CHAPTER  VI 

THROUGH  THE  BOARD 

THE  following  evening,  the  indicator  started 
working  as  soon  as  Violet  and  D.  put  their 
fingers  upon  it. 

"Last  night  some  one  said  that  Heller  wrote  the 
'Flower  Dance,'  "  it  spelled. 

"Didn't  you  tell  us  that?"  D.  asked. 

"No.  He  wrote  'Cradle  Song,'  'Barcarolle,'  'Ava- 
lanche.' " 

None  of  us  knew  Heller  as  the  composer  of  these 
works.  Later  on  D.  went  to  a  music  store,  verified 
their  authorship  and  bought  the  compositions. 

"Is  there  danger  always  of  some  one  else  coming 
into  our  conversation?" 

"Yes." 

"Can  you  give  us  a  sort  of  signature  which  will 
be  your  guarantee?" 

"Yes.  I  will  write  'Z'  before  answers  of  importance. 
'Z'  is  a  letter  not  used  much." 

"What  is  Daddy  doing  now?" 

"Recording." 

"Mother  wrote  down  what  you  said  last  night." 

"If  you  had  only  written  it  from  the  beginning! 
Please  ask  all  those  questions  over  again  and  write 
them  down — I  mean  the  day  you  asked  the  most." 

This  was  the  Friday  before,  the  i8th,  when  the 
board  was  used  for  the  first  time. 

63 


64  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"What  message  was  it  you  had  for  Brother?" 

"  'Your  Y.D.  soldier  friend  is  here.'  " 

"What  is  his  name?" 

"Edward  Lind." 

"When  did  he  come  over?" 

"The  other  day." 

"How  do  you  know  he  was  Brother's  friend?" 

"Just  met  him." 

"When  did  Brother  meet  this  boy?" 

"November.     France." 

"Do  you  know  the  name  of  the  place?" 

"No." 

Our  son,  when  asked  later,  upon  his  return  from 
town,  remembered  that  during  November,  1918,  after 
the  Armistice,  he  had  really  met,  in  the  26th  Division, 
a  young  man  whose  last  name  was  Lind,  but  he  could 
not  recall  his  first  name.  The  inference  was  that  Lind 
had  died  within  the  last  few  days.  We  have  not  re- 
ceived any  answer  from  the  War  Department  to  a 
request  for  information  about  young  Lind. 

The  indicator  resumed : 

"Mummy,  just  ask  questions  like  those  you  asked 
at  first;  just  as  though  we  had  never  talked  together 
since  I  went  over." 

"Why?" 

"Easier." 

"Are  you  always  here  with  us?" 

"Yes." 

"Don't  you  take  little  trips  around  the  earth  some- 
times?" 

"Yes,  but  that  doesn't  take  much  time." 

"Have  you  gone  to  Italy  yet?" 

"Yes;  I  was  in  Rome." 

"Was  there  anything  you  saw  you  liked?" 


THROUGH  THE  BOARD  65 

"The  art  galleries  and  the  Cathedral." 

"What  was  the  name  of  the  Cathedral?" 

"St.  Peter's." 

"Do  you  remember  what  it  was  of  yours  you  told 
mother  the  other  day  to  wear?" 

"Yes;  bathrobe." 

"What  was  it  you  said  you  did  not  care  about?" 

"Furs." 

"Don't  you  have  furs  for  ornaments  over  there?" 

"No,  we  don't  kill  our  pets." 

Now  I  am  aware  that  much  of  what  I  recorded  in 
those  first  sitting's  with  the  board  was  trivial,  but  to 
us  who  knew  Louise  it  was  all  evidential,  especially 
when  considered  in  the  light  of  what  came  later  on. 
Still,  from  now  on  I  shall  omit  a  great  deal  as  being 
of  a  particularly  intimate  nature — the  sort  of  playful 
chatter  and  chaff  that  obtains  in  a  happy  family,  and 
which,  possibly,  would  not  interest  those  who,  insist- 
ing upon  the  sterner  realities,  have  no  ear  and  heart 
for  the  little  nonsenses  that  to  some  make  life  really 
endurable. 

"You  said  the  other  day  you  wear  white  and  blue. 
Why  is  it?"  asked  D. 

"It  is  because  they  are  the  most  beautiful  colors. 
Almost  everybody  here  wears  blue  and  white." 

"How  long  after  you  passed  over  was  it  before  you 
realized  something  had  happened  to  you  ?" 

"I  told  you." 

"Don't  you  want  to  tell  again?" 

"No." 

"Why  do  you  wear  white  and  blue?" 

"White  is  symbolic  of  purity ;  blue,  the  endless  sky, 
symbolic  of  eternity." 


66  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Don't  you  think  the  War  opened  up  our  vision  with 
regard  to  the  Great  Beyond?" 

"Yes.    The  War  was,  in  a  way,  a  blessing." 

"Is  it  felt  in  the  spirit  world  that  a  benefit  to  hu- 
manity in  general  will  result?" 

"Yes,  in  a  way." 

Louise  spoke  of  visiting  the  Peace  Conference  and 
discussed  one  or  two  personalities  there  in  a  humorous 
way;  but  what  she  said  it  might  be  inadvisable  to 
repeat. 

"What  did  you  think  of  the  Germans  there?"  we 
asked. 

Laughter  from  the  board. 

"Were  you  glad  to  see  them  defeated  ?" 

"No.    They  are  all  human  beings." 

"I  thought  you  were  all  for  the  Allies." 

"No,  their  spirits  (the  Germans)  are  just  as  good 
as,  and  better  than  some  of  the  Allies." 

"Still,  you  would  not  like  to  have  seen  the  Germans 
win?" 

The  indicator  went  to  neutral. 

"Do  you  think  the  Allies  were  as  much  to  blame  as 
the  Germans?" 

"It  wasn't  the  Germans'  fault." 

"Whose  fault  was  it?" 

"Anti-Christ's." 

"Whom  do  you  mean — the  Kaiser?" 

"Anti-Christ  used  the  Kaiser  to  bring  about  the 
War.  The  Kaiser  was  his  instrument." 

"Do  you  mean  by  'Anti-Christ'  what  we  would  call 
evil  spirits?" 

"Satan." 

"Do  you  think  the  Kaiser  ought  to  be  punished  ?" 

"It  wasn't  his  fault.    He  was  simply  possessed." 


THROUGH  THE  BOARD  67 

"Are  Senators  who  are  opposing  President  Wilson 
with  regard  to  the  Peace  Treaty  acting  from  patriotism 
or  partisanship?" 

The  indicator  spelled  out  "P-a,"  which  might  be 
the  beginning  of  either  word,  and  then  flew  to  the 
neutral  point. 

"Don't  you  want  to  say?" 

"No." 

"We  won't  tell  the  Senators." 

"You  would  if  you  published  it." 

"Will  you  tell  us  when  you  think  we  have  enough 
to  make  a  book?" 

"Yes.    Of  course,  you  will  make  it  like  a  story." 

"We  thought  of  writing  the  story  of  Louise,  and 
calling  it  simply  'Louise/  "  I  suggested. 

"No!" 

"Would  you  rather  we  call  it  some  other  name?" 

"Yes — 'Revelations  of  Louise/  ' 

She  went  on  to  say,  in  answer  to  questions,  that,  as 
some  have  theorized,  the  Great  War  was  a  fulfillment 
of  one  of  the  prophecies  of  St.  John  the  Divine; 
but  that  it  was  not  the  Kaiser  who  was  the  "Beast," 
as  some  writers  have  asserted,  but  "Anti-Christ." 

"Lots  of  people  believe  in  a  personal  devil,"  it  was 
suggested.  "Is  there  such  a  thing?" 

"The  Evil  Spirit." 

"Where  did  Mother  like  to  kiss  you?" 

"Back  of  my  neck." 

This  was  true. 

"I'd  give  a  great  deal  to  be  able  to  kiss  you  there 
now." 

"Yes ;  I  can  kiss  you,  but  you  can't  kiss  me  till  you 
come  over." 


68  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

After  some  further  conversation,  the  indicator  sud- 
denly said  "Good-by!" 

"Is  it  that  you  are  tired  of  us?" 

"No,  it  is  after  n." 

We  left  the  porch,  where  we  had  been  sitting,  went 
into  the  house,  and  discovered  it  was  just  n  :O2. 


SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER 


CHAPTER  VII 

SPIRIT   DOGS,    AND  ANOTHER 

FOR  the  sitting  the  next  afternoon,  we  had  pro- 
cured a  new  board,  larger  than  the  old,  but  at 
first  did  not  get  results.     However,  in  two  or 
three  minutes  it  seemed  to  work  as  easily  as  the  other. 
D.  asked  questions. 

"Where  was  I  to-day?" 

"In  New  York." 

"Did  you  see  Daddy?" 

"Yes." 

"Where?" 

"Taking  lunch  with  Mummy." 

"Were  you  with  Violet  and  me  at  the  theater?" 

"Yes." 

"What  did  you  think  of  the  show?" 

"The  girls  did  not  wear  enough  clothes." 

"In  which  act?" 

"In  the  second." 

"Did  you  disapprove?" 

"Yes." 

"But  Mother  wears  low-neck  frocks." 

"It  is  not  that." 

"Did  you  think  that  it  was  immodest?" 

"Yes." 

Louise  said  she  thought  the  play  was  vulgar. 

"But  did  you  not  think  the  sanctimonious  young 
man  rather  funny?" 

"No,  silly." 

7i 


72  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Give  us  the  pass  word."  The  indicator  imme- 
diately flew  to  "Z." 

"Will  you  go  to  some  nice  plays  with  us?" 

"I  hope  so.    I  like  to  see  a  good,  good,  good  play." 

"Did  you  think  Mother  was  nervous  at  the  theater 
to-day?" 

"Yes." 

"What  did  I  do?" 

"Went  out."     (This  was  true.) 

"Do  you  remember  what  you  wrote  last  night  at 
the  end?" 

"Yes."  Then  she  repeated,  "  'It  is  after  n.  Good- 
by.' " 

"Are  our  chairs  your  shade  of  blue  ?" 

"No,  ours  is  'sky.'  " 

"But  the  sky  varies." 

"Pale  blue.     Like  the  sky  now." 

"Is  your  dress  white,  picked  out  with  blue?" 
guessed  D. 

"Yes." 

"How  do  you  wear  your  hair?" 

"Same.  Mummy  and  Daddy,"  she  went  on,  "when 
you  write  my  book,  are  you  going  to  put  my  picture  in 
it?" 

"We  thought  of  putting  several  pictures  of  you  in 
it.  You  approve  of  that,  don't  you  ?" 

"Yes — put  the  picture  of  me  in  my  evening  gown." 

Louise  in  further  discussion  of  the  book  at  this 
time,  insisted  upon  the  pictures  of  various  members 
of  the  family  being  used,  but  later  she  was  induced 
to  change  her  mind. 

"Which,  other  pictures  of  you?"  we  asked. 

"The  enlargement  of  me  sitting  on  the  steps." 

"You  mean  the  Kodak  that  was  taken  by  H.  C?" 


SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER       73 

"Yes." 

Violet,  I  may  say,  knew  nothing  about  this  picture, 
a  snapshot  of  Louise,  taken  on  the  steps  of  our  coun- 
try home. 

There  was  some  conversation  about  the  pet  "spirit" 
dogs.  Louise  told  us  that  Chico  and  Biddy  were 
both  with  her,  and  that  for  collars  both  wore  symbolic 
colors  about  their  necks.  The  colors  she  gave  as 
blue  and  pink. 

We  asked  when  we  should  have  enough  materials 
for  the  book.  The  answer  came,  "When  you  get  this 
tablet  filled,  you  will  have  enough  for  the  book.  Then 
you  can  begin  another.  Of  course,  you  will  have  to 
explain  everything." 

"Can  you  say  some  little  characteristic  thing  to 
Mother,  something  that  would  be  evidential  of  you?" 

The  answer  came,  "Z." 

"Call  me  some  little  pet  name  you  used  to  call  me." 

The  indicator  wrote,  "Roseleaf." 

This  was  the  pet  name  that  Louise  always  used 
in  her  letters  to  her  mother.  Violet  had  never  heard 
of  it. 

"Are  the  great  poems  of  literature  remembered 
where  you  are — Gray's  'Elegy/  for  instance?" 

"Yes." 

"Have  you  greater  poems  over  there?" 

"Yes." 

"Many  hold  that  all  great  poetry  is  inspirational." 

"Yes."     (Very  decidedly.) 

"Did  Shakespeare  write  his  plays  solely  from  his 
own  mind,  or  was  he  inspired?" 

"Inspired." 

"You  don't  think  Bacon  had  anything  to  do  with 
it?" 


74 

"No." 

"Are  there  racial  distinctions  with  regard  to  color 
in  your  plane?" 

"No;  it  is  all  the  same." 

After  some  more  conversation,  the  indicator  wrote, 
"Good-by!" 

"Why  did  you  say  good-by?" 

"You  are  tired." 

"Tell  me  what  time  it  is." 

"Ten,  almost." 

"Which  clock  did  you  see?"  Laughter  from  the 
indicator. 

"Brother's  watch." 

Her  brother  wore  his  army  wrist  watch  with  an 
illuminated  dial. 

He  was  in  an  adjoining  room.  We  called  out  to 
him  to  ask  what  was  the  time.  He  replied,  "Just  one 
minute  of  10." 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  her  brother 
and  Violet  were  invited  by  Louise  to  play  a  game  on 
the  board. 

"You  see  how  long  you  can  keep  your  hand  on  the 
indicator,"  she  spelled  out.  "I'll  bet  I  can  throw  you 
and  little  sister  off  each  four  times  in  five  minutes." 

The  game  was  on  and  the  indicator  began  to  jerk 
from  side  to  side,  with  the  result  that  our  son's  hand 
was  thrown  off  four  times  and  Violet's  five  times 
within  the  five  minutes. 

In  the  evening,  when  the  board  had  been  taken  out, 
D.  said,  "I  heard  there  was  a  'rough-house'  here  to- 
day." 

"Yes,  we  had  lots  of  fun,"  spelled  the  indicator. 

"What  did  you  do?" 

"Played  a  game." 


SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER       75 

"Let's  play  it  now." 

More  of  the  same  "rough-house"  followed. 

"What  did  Mother  do  in  town  to-day?" 

"Shopping." 

"Do  you  think  Violet  would  make  a  success  on  the 
stage  ?" 

"Yes." 

"How  will  she  begin— dancing?" 

"Yes,  and  elocution." 

"What  definition  can  you  give  of  'elocution'?" 

"Expression." 

It  soon  developed  that  Louise  was  in  a  merry  mood. 
She  said  on  the  board;  "I  want  to  dance." 

"What?" 

"One-step." 

"What  shall  we  play?" 

"  'Oui,  Oui,  Marie.'  " 

This  was  played  and  the  indicator  kept  step  to  it 
and  made  flourishes  that  were  similar  to  the  turns  in 
a  one-step. 

"What  do  you  want  next?" 

"Fox  trot." 

"Will  you  dance  Daddy's  old  fox  trot?" 

"Yes." 

Some  years  ago  I  learned  a  peculiar  sort  of  fox 
trot,  easy  to  do,  but  I  had  to  teach  it  to  almost  every 
dancing  partner,  and  found  it  helped  to  count 
aloud  while  taking  the  steps.  The  indicator  paused 
successively  on  I,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  and  8.  Then  it 
skipped  to,  2,  3,  I,  2,  3,  making  "dips"  as  Louise  and 
I  used  to  make  them.  Her  imitation  of  my  methodical 
manner  of  fox-trotting  seemed  to  amuse  the  family 
very  much. 

"What  next?" 


76  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Waltz." 

A  record  was  put  on  the  machine.  The  indicator 
spelled  out,  "Not  that  one— the  one  you  played  this 
afternoon."  It  danced  through  the  waltz,  "hesitating" 
and  "twinkling"  in  the  fashion  of  five  or  six  years 
ago;  cantered,  and  so  on. 

"Now,  the  way  the  Germans  waltz,"  suggested 
some  one.  The  indicator  wheeled  slowly,  ponderously, 
round  and  round. 

"What  next?"  we  asked. 

"Maxixe." 

This  has  been  a  favorite  dance  of  Louise's.  The 
indicator  heeled  and  toed  the  whole  length  of  the 
board,  then  it  glided  to  the  sides.  It  went  through  a 
performance  that  was  an  exact  reproduction  so  far  as 
possible  of  the  dance  the  Castles  made  famous.  Then 
it  demanded  the  "tango,"  and  danced  that. 

Violet  knew  nothing  of  any  of  these  dances,  except 
that  she  had  just  begun  to  learn  the  one-step. 

I  had  constructed  a  planchette  and  Louise  agreed 
to  try  it,  but  she  was  not  sure  she  could  communicate 
with  it. 

"Now  see,"  said  D.,  "if  you  can  write  'Louise 
Crockett'  the  way  you  used  to  write  it?"  The  plan- 
chette wrote,  back-hand,  in  Louise's  familiar  way,  in 
large  letters,  "Louise  Crockett."  Soon  it  was  writing 
easily. 

"What  were  the  names  Brother  used  to  call  you 
when  you  both  were  kiddies?" 

The  pencil  wrote:  "Louse"  (dropping  the  "i") ; 
"Skinnay"  (accent  on  the  last  syllable).  These  were 
two  of  her  brother's  nicknames  for  her  in  childhood, 
and  Violet  had  never  heard  them. 

"What  did  you  call  Mummy?" 


SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER       77 

"Roseleaf." 

"What  did  Daddy  call  me?"  asked  D. 

The  indicator  spelled  correctly  the  three  unusual 
pet  names.  Violet  had  not  known  them. 

"Go  back  and  cross  that  V  "  D.  directed.  The 
pencil  went  back  and  did  as  it  was  told. 

"What  did  you  used  to  call  Brother?" 

"  'Newky.'  " 

"What  did  you  think  of  that  experiment?" 

"Hard." 

"If  two  of  us  hold  the  pencil  in  our  fingers  lightly, 
could  you  do  anything  with  it?" 

"Yes."     (Not  very  decidedly.) 

Then  our  son  and  the  indicator  played  a  game  of 
"tag,"  the  latter  displaying  every  evidence  of  being 
under  full  control.  This  occupied  some  time,  the  in- 
dicator acting  as  if  thoroughly  enjoying  it.  Suddenly 
it  started  in  my  direction. 

"You  want  to  go  to  Daddy?" 

"Yes."  The  indicator  suddenly-  shot  from  under 
the  hands  upon  it,  across  a  space  of  two  feet,  and  into 
my  lap. 

"What  did  Mother  do  while  in  bathing  to-day?" 

"Went  beyond  your  depth." 

This  was  not  exactly  true,  but  D.  had  sat  in  the 
water,  so  that  the  latter  came  up  to  her  ears. 

"What  did  Violet  do?" 

"Harry." 

"Harry"  was  the  nane  of  a  little  son  of  a  neigh- 
bor, who  had  taken  Vblet  canoeing. 

"What  did  she  do  vrith  Harry?" 

"Canoe." 

Harry  is  a  Boy  Scout 

"What  good  deec  does  Harry  do  every  day?" 


78  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Brings  your  milk." 

"Do  you  ever  see  his  mother  come  with  the  milk?" 

"Yes." 

"What  follows  her  when  she  comes  ?" 

The  indicator  spelled,  "Dcoagt"  We  could  not 
make  this  out  at  first  and  asked,  "Are  those  letters 
abbreviations?" 

"No,  try  every  other  letter." 

We  did  that  and  found  the  seemingly  unintelligible 
word  was  composed  of  "dog"  and  "cat."  We  had 
never  seen  the  cat,  but  found  that  she  really  did  ac- 
company the  dog  sometimes. 

Violet  was  wearing  something  wrapped  about  her 
head. 

"What  does  she  look  like?"  D.  asked. 

The  indicator  spelled  "Turk — Fatima." 

"Did  anybody  ever  call  you  that  ?" 

The  board  said  "Yes,"  and  sped  directly  toward  our 
son,  who  was  standing  near. 

Then  came  a  curious  demonstration.  The  whining 
of  a  dog  was  heard  outside  and  the  nose  of  a  great 
Russian  wolfhound  belonging  to  a  neighbor  appeared, 
pressed  against  the  screen  wire. 

"What  is  that?"  was  asked. 

"Rex,"  was  spelled  by  the  indicator. 

"Do  you  want  Rex  to  come  in?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  you  remember  Rex?" 

"Yes." 

The  door  was  opened  ana  immediately  the  dog 
rushed  in  upon  the  porch,  anc  into  the  house;  then 
he  turned  around  madly,  came  back,  burst  open  the 
door  and  hurried  away.  We  could  not  account  for 
his  performance,  so  we  asked  the  question : 


SPIRIT  DOGS,  AND  ANOTHER       79 

"What  did  you  think  of  Rex's  behavior?" 

"He  saw  me." 

"Did  that  scare  him?" 

"Yes." 

"Why?" 

"He  did  not  know  me." 

"But  Rex  does  know  you?" 

"Yes." 

"Are  dogs  able  to  see  spirits  and  we  not?" 

"Yes." 

"Do  horses  have  clairvoyance  too?" 

"Yes." 

Rex  came  back  to  the  door  again  and  whined. 

Louise  wrote,  "Let  him  in." 

He  went  over  to  the  couch  on  one  side  of  the  porch 
and  began  to  bark,  and  then  whined  again.  Suddenly 
he  quieted  down.  The  indicator  wrote,  "I  am  petting 
him."  Rex  sat  looking  at  the  door  and  the  indicator 
wrote,  "I  am  here,  Rex." 

The  dog  lay  down  upon  the  floor,  silent;  after  a 
moment  he  raised  his  head  and  looked  as  if  at  some 
small  object  near  him.  Then  he  turned,  lifting  his 
head  higher,  as  if  toward  another  object,  a  little  taller. 
The  pencil  wrote:  "He  sees  Biddy  and  Chico." 

"Why  is  Rex  panting  so?" 

"Excited." 

"Do  you  think  Rex  knew  you  this  time?" 

"Yes." 

"What  was  he  barking  for?" 

"Me." 

"Was  that  his  greeting?" 

"Yes." 

Rex  gave  a  sudden  yelp  and  drew  back.  We  asked, 
"Did  Biddy  bite  him?" 


8o  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

The  answer  came,  "No — touched  him." 

"What  time  is  it?" 

"10:04,  5,  6,  7  and  8." 

We  found  that  the  clocks  and  watches  in  the  house 
each  recorded  a  different  time  and  that  Louise  had 
apparently  read  them  all. 


FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING 

THE  next  afternoon,  referring  to  the  conversa- 
tion of  the  evening  before,  D.  said: 
"Tell  me  what  you  think  of  Rex." 

"Rex  is  a  nice  dog." 

"Is  Rex  psychic?" 

"All  animals  are." 

"Where  do  you  spend  the  nights?" 

"Here,  in  this  house." 

"Don't  you  ever  leave  it?" 

"Yes,  just  as  you  leave  it." 

Whenever  there  was  a  pause  in  the  conversation, 
the  indicator  spelled  out,  "Ou,"  which  Louise  used 
as  the  abbreviation  for  "question." 

She  said  she  wanted  to  dance. 

"What?" 

"Fox  trot." 

After  the  indicator  had  done  some  dancing,  Violet 
started  on  the  phonograph,  "The  Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner," playing  it  very  slowly. 

"Do  you  know  what  that  is?" 

"Yes;  The  Star-Spangled  Banner.'    Play  it  faster." 

The  phonograph  was  readjusted. 

"That  is  too  fast,"  said  the  indicator.  The  ma- 
chine was  slowed  down. 

"That  is  fine." 

83 


84          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

The  indicator  went  through  the  motions  of  a  grand 
opera  singer  rendering  our  national  song  with  em- 
pressement.  Next  a  Hawaiian  melody  was  played, 
and  the  indicator  began  a  veritable  wriggle. 

"Now  what  are  you  dancing?" 

"The  Hula  Hula." 

We  asked  whether  Louise  had  read  certain  psychical 
books.  She  said  she  had,  pronouncing  one  "uninter- 
esting," and  another  "dull." 

She  mentioned  a  book  that  D.  had  started  reading 
the  night  before,  and  said  that  she  liked  it. 

"When  did  you  read  it?" 

"Last  night.     I  finished  it  while  you  all  slept." 

"How  does  it  end?" 

"With  a  poem."  D.  had  not  got  to  the  end  of  the 
book,  and  I  had  not  even  seen  the  volume.  We  looked 
it  up,  and  sure  enough  the  book  does  end  with  a  poem. 

The  indicator  wrote :  "I  am  dressed  in  white  to-day. 
Do  you  want  to  know  what  we  are  doing?" 

"Yes." 

"This  is  the  Festival  of  Spirits." 

"Have  we  anything  that  corresponds  to  it?" 

"Yes;  New  Year's,  in  a  way.  Not  exactly  the 
same  signification.  It  is  symbolic.  To-day,  I  have 
taken  a  step  higher — nearer  the  spirit  of  All  Holi- 
ness." 

"Can  you  afford  to  give  us  so  much  time  to-day?" 

"Not  very  well." 

"Shall  we  stop?" 

"Yes,  good-by." 

But  another  force  apparently  took  hold  of  the  in- 
dicator, for  when  Violet  asked,  "Is  there  any  one 
here?"  the  reply  came:  "Yes,  dear  Daughter,  do  not 
detain  me,  for  to-day  I  advance  one  step  nearer  God." 


FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING     85 

D.  asked,  "Is  this  my  father,  or  Violet's  father?" 

"Violet's.    Your  father  is  far  up." 

"He  must  be  very  high.    He  was  such  a  good  man." 

"Yes,  he  is  very  near  God." 

"Is  that  the  reason  why  he  does  not  come  to  me 
more  often?" 

"Yes." 

"Can  he  speak  to  me  on  the  board  ?" 

"No.     He  is  too  far." 

Violet  asked,  "Is  Mother  here,  too?" 

"Yes,  she  is  five  steps  higher  than  I.  I  hear  you 
are  thinking  of  making  an  actress  of  Violet,"  her 
father  (Morton)  said  to  D. 

"Yes,  but  we  won't  if  you  don't  approve." 

"I  am  very  much  for  it.  I  would  have  done  the 
same  had  I  lived." 

"Do  you  think  she  would  make  a  good  actress?" 

"Yes." 

"How  do  you  think  it  is  best  to  begin — with  danc- 
ing?" 

"Yes." 

"And,  a  little  later,  elocution?" 

"Yes." 

"We  are  giving  her  music." 

"I  am  so  glad.  One  question,  please.  When  do 
you  intend  to  start  her  on  the  stage?" 

"We  were  thinking  of  when  she  was  about  sixteen 
or  seventeen.  Of  course,  she  must  get  her  education 
first;  that  is  the  most  important  thing,  isn't  it?" 

"Yes;  and  you  will  look  after  her?" 

"Yes.  You  were  a  man  of  high  ambitions  and  a 
good  mind,  and  could  have  won  a  high  position," 
observed  D.  "What  spoiled  all  your  plans?" 


86  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Whiskey.  Never  let  the  children  get  the  drinking 
habit  Good-by!" 

Later  on  we  asked  Louise  for  more  information 
about  "The  Festival  of  Spirits."  She  told  us  that 
there  were  three  days  each  year  when  the  spirits 
that  progress  are  promoted  one  step  nearer  Heaven. 
One  was  July  25,  which  she  had  named,  another  No- 
vember 2,  which  we  identified  as  All  Souls'  Day  in 
the  Church  Calendar.  The  third,  or  rather  the  first 
in  time,  was  February  13.  The  names  of  these  other 
days  she  did  not  give  us.  She  had  taken  her  first  step 
upward  on  February  13. 

After  dinner  we  called  through  the  board  for 
Louise,  but  there  was  no  answer. 

"Are  there  any  spirits  present?" 

There  was  still  no  answer,  and  we  repeated  the 
question.  Still  there  was  a  delay  of  some  seconds 
before  the  indicator  slowly  moved  to  "Yes." 

"Who  is  it?" 

"Louise." 

Then  the  indicator  shot  over  to  "Z,"  the  signature 
Louise  used  for  identification. 

"Were  you  pretending  at  first  you  were  not  here 
just  now?" 

"No;  I  had  to  come,"  meaning  that  she  had  been 
some  distance  away. 

"Did  you  see  Daddy  write  with  the  planchette  to- 
night?" D.  asked.  Neither  D.  nor  Violet  had  seen 
what  I  wrote. 

"Yes." 

"Repeat  what  he  wrote." 

The  pencil  wrote,  "Louise,  are  you  here?" 

That  was  quite  correct. 

"Was  anybody  trying  to  guide  Daddy's  hand  ?" 


FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING    87 

"Yes,  I." 

"Do  you  think  if  Mother  took  a  pencil  in  her  hand 
and  Violet  put  her  fingers  above  Mother's,  you  could 
write?" 

"I  don't  know." 

The  pencil  was  taken  up  in  this  fashion. 

"Now,"  said  D.,  "see  if  you  can  write  your  name 
the  way  you  used?" 

After  a  slight  pause  the  pencil  wrote,  slowly: 
"Louise  Crockett." 

We  tried  some  more  experiments  along  this  line, 
and  the  ensuing  answers  in  this  conversation  were 
written  by  the  pencil. 

"How  was  the  Festival  to-day  ?" 

"Fine." 

"Have  you  division  of  time  like  ours — twenty-four 
hours  to  a  day,  etc.?" 

"No." 

"Do  you  have  day  and  night?" 

"No." 

"Are  you  still  all  dressed  in  white,  with  no  blue?" 

"Yes." 

"When  do  you  put  on  blue  again  ?" 

"Two  days." 

"What  are  your  days,  if  not  twenty-four  hours?" 

"I  was  speaking  in  your  time." 

I  had  now  ruled  a  large  sheet  of  paper,  and  D. 
asked : 

"Does  it  help  you  to  have  the  lines?" 

"Yes." 

"You" — the  pencil  was  lifted  and  pointed  straight 
at  D. ;  then  it  wrote/  "you  hold  the  pencil  too  tightly." 

A  moment  later,  when  D.  had  relaxed  her  hold  on 
the  pencil:  "Too  loosely."  The  pencil  was  lifted 


88          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

again.  This  was  clear  levitation.  Frequently,  later 
on,  she  would  write  a  whole  sentence,  then  reverse 
the  pencil  and  erase  every  word. 

Louise  used  to  be  very  fond  of  adorning  her  letters' 
with  funny  little  caricatures  and  faces.  Violet  had 
known  nothing  of  this. 

"Make  one  of  the  funny  little  faces,"  suggested  D. 

Immediately  the  pencil  drew  one  of  the  familiar 
caricatures. 

"How  did  you  like  the  experiment  of  writing  with 
a  pencil?"  asked  D.,  taking  up  the  communication 
board. 

"Hard.    Let  us  write  some  more." 

We  had  filled  two  large  sheets  of  paper  and  I  num- 
bered the  first  "No.  i"  and  the  second  "No.  2." 
Neither  D.  nor  Isabel  saw  me  do  this.  The  first  thing 
the  pencil  did  was  to  write  at  the  middle  of  the  top 
of  the  clean  sheet  I  had  just  ruled,  "No.  3."  Then  it 
continued,  "Father  is  here;  wants  to  write." 

Then  came  this  as  if  from  Morton:  "This  is  Fa- 
ther." The  point  of  the  pencil  was  carried  up  by  some 
unseen  force  to  Violet's  lips. 

"Was  that  a  kiss?"  D.  asked. 

"Yes;  good-by." 

"Is  that  the  first  automatic  writing  you  have  done?" 

The  pencil  was  lifted  and  pointed  at  the  "Yes" 
which  had  just  been  written. 

"Can  you  do  automatic  writing  with  Violet's  hand 
on  the  pencil?" 

"I  don't  know.     Good-by." 

We  resumed:    "Are  you  here,  Louise?" 

Immediately  the  pencil  began  to  draw  a  .caricature 
of  a  woman  in  evening  dress.  It  was  very  elaborately 
done,  and  in  a  style  peculiarly  Louise's,  which  while 


FESTIVAL  OF  SPIRITS;  WRITING    89 

it  seldom  produced  likenesses,  always  portrayed  char- 
acteristics of  the  subject.  Louise  labeled  it,  "Mother." 

"You  ought  to  make  a  fac-smile,"  Isabel  said. 

"What  did  Violet  say?"  asked  D. 

"Fac-smile"  wrote  the  indicator,  just  as  the  child 
had  pronounced  it. 

"What  should  she  have  said  ?" 

"Fac-simile." 

"When  do  you  think  Daddy  ought  to  start  writing1 
the  book?" 

"Now.    Begin  the  book  to-night  and  I  will  help." 


THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED 

AS  has  been  told,  I  began  to  take  an  active  in- 
terest in  the  board  on  Sunday,  July  20.  That 
interest  was  increasing,  but  not  forcing  me 
into  the  conviction  that  we  were  in  communication 
with  our  daughter,  much  as  I  would  have  liked  to  be- 
lieve that  such  was  the  case.  My  theory  of  our  own 
subconscious  influence  on  Violet  was  not  borne  out  by 
the  evidential  characteristics  of  the  messages  that  pur- 
ported to  come  from  Louise  as  we  progressed.  I  could 
not  explain;  I  could  only  wonder,  and  hope  for  a 
solution  of  what  seemed  unexplainable.  It  began  to 
come  before  our  experiences  had  continued  a  week, 
when  through  the  board  came  a  demand  that  we  try 
"tipping  table." 

Now  during  the  winter  D.  and  I  had  frequently 
tried  to  have  a  table  tip  for  us.  Many  an  evening  we 
had  sat  for  half  an  hour  or  more  at  a  time,  with  our 
hands  resting  upon  a  table  or  a  wooden  stool,  occa- 
sionally addressing  a  question  or  an  entreaty  to  the 
seemingly  empty  air,  but  nothing  had  happened,  and  I 
had  grown  firmer  in  my  conviction  that  the  exhibition 
I  had  seen  when  the  professional  medium  had  made  a 
little  table  tip  at  will  had  been  faked  for  my  benefit. 
But  as  we  progressed  with  automatic  writing,  I  felt 
encouraged  to  try  again.  I  was  not  prepared  to  accept 

93 


94          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

mere  tilting  as  the  proof  I  wanted,  but  it  would  be 
more  convincing  than  the  board. 

We  got  results  with  the  table  as  soon  as  we  tried 
it  with  Violet.  That  was  on  the  Friday  evening  of  the 
first  week,  or  July  25.  I  had  fashioned  out  of  rem- 
nants of  board,  a  little  table  about  thirteen  inches 
square  on  top,  with  slender  legs  two  and  a  half  feet 
high,  the  whole  weighing  less  than  three  pounds.  We 
had  been  talking  on  the  board  about  the  "Festival  of 
Spirits,"  and  our  tests  with  automatic  writing  had 
been  so  encouraging  that  I  asked  if  Louise  would 
try  to  tip  the  little  contrivance  I  had  made.  Assent 
was  signified,  and  then  followed  what  to  us  seemed 
a  remarkable  demonstration.  None  of  us  had  ever 
seen  such  an  exhibition.  In  addition  to  tipping  in 
answer  to  questions,  the  table  moved  along  the  floor, 
as  if  walking,  went  out  on  the  porch  and  bumped 
against  the  screen  door  opening  upon  the  lawn. 

The  next  night  began  the  series  of  table-tippings 
and  levitations  that  made  our  summer  really  remark- 
able, and  that  led  to  our  receiving  what  to  us  was 
absolute  proof  of  the  life  hereafter  and  confirmation 
of  much  that  men  wiser  than  their  generations  have 
maintained  through  centuries  of  doubt.  It  was  not 
until  I  had  seen  and  heard  things  that  no  mere  psycho- 
logist can  explain  away  and  no  theory  of  subcon- 
sciousness  can  account  for  that  I  was  willing  to  accept 
as  authentic  what  we  had  been  told  on  the  communi- 
cation board.  Having  been  forced,  as  it  were,  into  a 
belief  that  those  who  have  gone  can  still  communicate 
with  us,  and  can  convince  us  that  their  real  personal- 
ities are  present  with  us,  I  must  believe  that  what  we 
were  told  on  the  board  is  just  as  much  a  part  of  the 
whole  story  as  what  follows. 


THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED         95 

We  did  not  make  our  first  important  experiment 
with  the  little  table  I  had  constructed,  but  with  a 
rather  heavy  oak  table,  having  an  octagonal  top,  sup- 
ported by  three  outspread  legs. 

The  "spirit"  code  of  one  tip  for  "no" ;  two  for  "I 
don't  know",  or,  "I  cannot  answer";  three  for  "Yes" 
and  four  for  "Repeat  the  alphabet"  was  used.  Now 
follows  what  actually  happened  after  D.,  Margaret,  a 
friend  just  back  from  doing  Red  Cross  work  in 
France,  Violet,  our  son  and  I  had  seated  ourselves 
about  the  table. 

First  we  asked :  "Is  anybody  here  ?" 

In  three  decided  tilts,  the  answer  came,  "Yes." 

"Is  it  Louise?" 

"Yes." 

"Anybody  with  you?" 

"Yes." 

"How  many?" 

"Two." 

"Who  are  they?" 

"Father." 

"Who  is  the  other?" 

The  table  spelled  out,  by  tipping,  the  name  of  a 
distant  relative  of  the  children,  whom  I  shall  identify 
here  and  hereafter  as  "Julius."  They  had  never 
known  him,  but  I  had.  He  had  died  some  months 
before,  following  the  death  of  his  son,  whom  I  shall 
call  "Gordon."  Julius  was  a  very  forceful  man,  and  to 
us  the  table  seemed  to  take  on  a  share  of  his  person- 
ality, for  as  it  spelled  his  name  it  fairly  banged  out 
the  letters. 

"Is  he  here  because  of  the  relationship?" 
I  "Yes." 


96          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

So  we  turned  to  the  communication  board,  and 
asked  of  Julius: 

"Do  you  wish  to  give  us  a  message?" 

"Yes." 

Then  the  indicator  spelled  out  the  following:  "I 
never  had  the  pleasure  of  making  the  acquaintance 

of  either (naming  our  son) or  Violet,  but  I 

would  like  to,  now." 

"Can  you  tell  me  what  the  relationship  is  between 
you  and  these  two  children  ?" 

"Fourth  cousins."    This  was  correct. 

Then  the  indicator  continued:  "Have  you  any 
questions  ?" 

We  asked:  "Can  you  give  us  your  opinion  as  to 
whether  the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  the  League  of  Na- 
tions should  be  ratified  by  the  Senate?" 

The  indicator  immediately  went  to  a  neutral  point. 

"Ought  there  to  be  reservations?"  we  pursued. 

Slowly  came  the  answer,  "Yes." 

Then  the  indicator  resumed: 

"Tell (naming  his  wife) not  to  mourn.  I 

am  with  her  now,  and  more  than  ever  in  life." 

"Would  you  like  her  to  communicate  with  you?" 

"Yes." 

"We  will  see  that  she  gets  your  message." 

"Thank  you;  good-by." 

Then  the  board  spelled  out,  "Hello !" 

"Who  is  here  now?" 

"Guides.  We  want  every  one  in  this  house  to  tip 
table.  Dark  preferred.  No  light." 

"Will  this  table  be  all  right?"  we  asked,  indicating 
the  octagonal  one. 

"Any  table.    Wait  till  it  is  dark." 

"How  many  of  us  do  you  expect  to  be  at  this  table?" 


THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED         97 

"Six." 

"Shall  we  talk  with  the  board  until  it  gets  dark?" 

"Nothing." 

At  dark  we  resumed — D.,  Violet,  Margaret,  our  son, 
Henriette,  our  Belgian  maid,  and  I.  A  thunderstorm 
had  come  almost  coincidentally  with  the  first  part  of 
the  seance,  and  there  was  heavy  rain — supposed  to 
make  conditions  favorable.  The  table  began  tipping 
immediately  after  I  turned  out  the  light. 

"Who  is  here?"  asked  Isabel. 

"Louise,  Father,  'Julius.'" 

"Are  there  any  others?" 

"No." 

The  table  began  to  give  evidence  of  power,  which 
grew  into  terrific  force  as  the  sitting  proceeded.  We 
had  our  hands  lightly  on  its  top,  palms  down,  but 
after  a  series  of.  tippings  and  levitations  the  table 
began  climbing  into  Violet's  lap  and  then  shoved  vio- 
lently against  each  of  us  in  turn.  In  answer  to  ques- 
tions, it  came  out  that  three  of  us  possessed  magnetic 
power — Violet,  very  strong;  Henriette,  in  less  degree, 
and  Margaret,  slight. 

When  I  said  I  would  surely  communicate  the  mes- 
sage to  Julius'  widow  the  table  rocked  violently,  as  if 
with  pleasure. 

Then  came  an  extraordinary  exhibition  of  super- 
natural control.  The  table  was  made  to  run  from  one 
side  of  the  circle  to  another  and  to  climb  into  our 
laps.  It  stood  on  one  leg,  jerked  about  violently  and 
walked  about  the  floor.  Our  son  left  the  table  but  it 
continued  its  performances.  I  kept  asking  at  inter- 
vals if  more  than  the  original  three  were  present,  and 
finally  the  answer  came,  "Yes — 16." 

These  were  listed  as  follows: 


98  REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Five  guides  for  Violet,  three  for  Henriette,  two  for 
each  of  the  remainder  of  us,  together  with  Louise, 
Morton  (Violet's  father),  and  Julius.  We  were  in- 
formed that  the  proximity  of  our  home  to  the  place 
where  his  own  family  lived  had  been  instrumental  in 
drawing  "Junus"  to  us>  joined  with  the  relationship 
that  existed  between  him  and  Louise,  Morton,  Violet 
and  our  son. 

During  these  early 'experiments  the  table  was  never 
wholly  elevated  above  the  floor  except  with  some- 
body's knee  as  a  purchase.  We  tried  the  small  table 
I  had  made,  and  it  was  lifted  a  foot  from  the  floor 
without  supports  of  any  kind.  We  asked  the  spirits 
if  they  could  materialize.  They  were  not  sure.  We 
asked  them  to  appear  in  the  form  of  lights.  In  a  few 
seconds  Henriette  claimed  that  she  saw  blue  lights  on 
D.  and  then  Violet  said  she  saw  them.  Both  next  said 
that  the  lights  were  on  my  hands.  From  them  they 
went  to  Violet's.  No  one  else  saw  them.  Finally  the 
table  said  "Good-night"  by  tipping  toward  each  of 
us  in  turn.  Not  satisfied,  it  then  walked  across  the 
room  and  knocked  on  the  door  of  the  room  of  our 
son,  who  had  shut  himself  in,  so  that  he  could  do  some 
work  at  his  desk. 

The  next  morning,  Sunday,  I  awoke  at  daybreak, 
and  once  awake  was  impelled  to  get  up.  The  thought 
came  to  me  that  I  must  write  out  the  message  Julius 
had  directed  me  to  convey.  It  seemed  as  if  some  force 
drew  me  to  the  writing-desk,  and  I  could  not  satisfy 
myself  until  I  had  written  a  letter  and  transmitted  the 
word  that  purported  to  come  from  him.  That  after- 
noon I  asked  Louise,  on  the  board,  what  had  dragged 
me  out  of  bed  so  early. 

She  spelled  the  real  name  of  "Julius." 


THE  TABLE  THAT  TALKED          99 

Later  in  the  day  my  "guides"  signified  that  they 
wished  to  talk  to  me.  After  some  preliminary  con- 
versation, it  developed  that  they  wanted  to  discuss 
the  book.  This  is  what  they  spelled  on  the  communi- 
cation board: 

"Make  it  as  interesting  as  possible,  putting  it  in 
story  form.  It  must  have  a  blue  cover,  bordered  by 
white,  and  'Revelations  of  Louise'  must  be  printed  in 
gold  letters.  Put  in  it  the  pictures  Louise  men- 
tioned." 

After  some  talk  that  was  more  strictly  personal, 
they  spelled  out: 

"As  soon  as  it  grows  dark,  allow  no  one  to  leave 
here  until  we  say  good-night." 


ON  GUIDES  AND  "POWER" 


CHAPTER  X 

ON  GUIDES  AND  "POWER** 

HERE  it  seems  fitting  to  repeat  what  we  have 
been  told  about  "guides."  I  do  not  remember, 
to  have  seen  anything  printed  on  this  sub- 
ject, although  I  admit  that  I  have  not  begun  to  cover 
the  field  of  psychical  literature.  The  subject  seems 
to  me  interesting  enough  to  have  a  chapter  by  itself, 
although  it  requires  a  departure  from  the  strict  nar- 
rative form  of  story,  because  the  information  was 
imparted  to  us  at  various  times,  as  our  acquaintance 
with  our  visitors  from  the  other  world  proceeded. 

We  were  told  that  to  every  child,  at  birth,  is  as- 
signed at  least  two  guides,  whose  duty  is  to  watch 
over  their  charge,  influence  him  as  far  as  possible  for 
good,  and  protect  him  from  harm  where  it  can  be 
done.  It  appears,  according  to  what  has  been  told 
us,  that  while  certain  things  are  fore-ordained,  to  the 
individual  is  left  the  final  responsibility  for  his  own 
actions — in  other  words,  he  is  actually  a  free  moral 
agent 

As  the  child  grows  older,  we  have  been  told,  these 
guides  may  give  place  to  others,  though  it  is  not  in- 
frequent that  a  human  being  may  have  at  least  one 
guide  continuously  from  birth  until  death.  If  the  child 
has  as  many  as  three,  it  is  apt  to  possess  a  degree  of 
mediumistic  power.  Most  children,  we  were  assured, 

103 


104         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

have  this  power  to  some  extent,  but  unless  use  is 
made  of  it,  the  power  may,  in  time,  depart.  At  least 
one  of  the  guides  remains  with  its  charge  all  the  time, 
and  the  day  is  divided  into  two  watches. 

The  "identification"  of  their  guides  for  close  friends 
who  came  to  see  us  during  the  summer  proved  an  in- 
teresting and  rather  diverting  pastime,  and  while  not 
all  believed  that  they  were  actually  talking  on  the 
communication  board  or  through  the  table  with  the 
more  or  less  distinguished  personage  from  the  other 
world  who  was  said  to  be  the  unseen  party  to  the  con- 
versation, these  friends  at  least  were  convinced  that 
they  were  witnessing  manifestations  of  some  myste- 
rious force.  In  all  cases  they  left  wondering;  some 
of  them  sure,  some  of  them  shaking  their  heads  at 
what  they  said  they  could  not  understand. 

We  first  learned  about  guides  while  talking  on  the 
communication  board,  when  one  afternoon  we  asked 
who  were  present  from  the  spirit  world  besides  Louise. 
The  answer  came: 

"John,  Cecilia,  Catherine,  Isabella  and  Mary." 

"And  who  are  they?"  we  pursued. 

"Violet's  guides,"  was  the  reply. 

Our  son  had  a  rather  different  experience  with  his 
guides  from  the  rest  of  us.  Through  the  board  he 
learned  that  he  had  two  guides  and  that  their  names 
were  "Ed"  and  "Kirk."  "Ed"  lived,  so  he  said,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  in  that  part  of  England  which 
is  near  Wales.  He  was  something  like  a  country 
gentleman,  and  evidently  had  a  considerable  sense  of 
humor.  "Kirk,"  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  carpenter, 
and  he  told  that  he  had  been  born  in  Erie,  in  1800; 
that  at  the  age  of  twelve,  both  parents  having  died,  he 
was  sent  by  friends  to  Greenwich,  Conn.,  and  there 


ON  GUIDES  AND  "POWER"         105 

apprenticed  to  a  carpenter.  He  died,  he  said,  at  the- 
age  of  twenty-five,  from  typhoid  fever.  Ed  was 
jovial  from  the  first.  He  told  us  he  had  been  a  mar- 
ried man  and  while  marriage  wasn't  always  absolutely 
satisfactory,  in  the  main  it  was  "a  good  thing." 

Revelation  of  the  identity  of  my  own  guides  came 
as  a  sort  of  shock  to  my  strong  pro-Ally  sensibilities, 
for  I  was  informed  that  both  were  Germans.  Their 
names  were  given  as  "Albert"  and  "George."  The 
former  was  identified  as  a  soldier  and  George  de- 
scribed himself  as  a  Franciscan  monk  who  had  been 
pastor  of  a  church  in  Cologne.  However,  there  was  a 
grain  of  comfort.  Both  said  emphatically  that  they 
did  not  approve  of  the  war,  and  that  Germany  was  ab- 
solutely unjustified  in  waging  it.  Nevertheless,  neith- 
er blamed  the  German  people,  but  "Anti-Christ,"  act- 
ing through  the  Kaiser. 

It  has  been  very  difficult  to  get  a  satisfactory  con- 
ception as  to  what  "mediumistic  power"  is.  We  were 
told  that  for  want  of  a  better  term  we  could  describe 
it  as  a  sort  of  magnetism,  but  this  does  not  seem  ade- 
quate in  view  of  the  information  imparted  to  us  later; 
for  in  speaking  of  the  use  by  spirits  of  a  medium  in 
a  trance,  the  highest  authority  we  have  had  told  us 
that  the  spirits  of  many  persons  absolutely  leave  their 
bodies  during  sleep.  Such  persons  are  sound  sleepers. 
According  to  this  same  authority,  the  spirit  of  such  a 
sleeper  goes  to  the  spirit  plane  and  there  mingles  with 
spirits  who  have  gone  on.  There  is  left,  however,  a 
way  back  into  the  body.  When  the  spirit  returns  to 
its  earthly  temple  it  is  unable  to  communicate  to  the 
mind  what  it  has  seen  and  heard  while  on  its  journey. 
In  a  trance,  the  subject's  spirit  may  leave  the  body 
and  mingle  with  spirits,  and  the  spirit  who  wishes  to 


106         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

communicate  takes  possession  of  the  body  and  uses 
its  vocal  apparatus,  and  upon  occasion,  its  muscular 
forces.  The  body  without  the  spirit  is  an  inert  mass. 
When  the  subject  awakes,  he  or  she  has  no  recollec- 
tion whatever  of  what  has  happened. 


MANIFESTATIONS 


CHAPTER  XI 

MANIFESTATIONS 

SEVEN  sat  at  the  table,  the  night  following  the 
visit  of  Julius.     He  was  not  among  the  unseen 
spectators  at  first,  but  later  on  when  the  ques- 
tion was  put  as  to  his  presence,  a  vehement  "Yes" 
followed.     Four  of  our  seven  sitters  were  described 
as  having  "power." 

The  table  behaved  violently,  jerking  about  with  in- 
credible force.  So  turbulent  did  it  become  that  we 
cried,  "Enough!"  and  asked  to  have  some  "mani- 
festations" if  possible.  We  were  told  to  sit  quietly. 

After  a  few  minutes,  Violet  gave  a  hysterical  cry. 
She  said  she  saw  something  like  a  formless  shape  on 
the  other  side  of  D.  We  turned  on  the  lights.  She 
insisted  upon  having  the  lights  put  out  again,  when 
similar  things  happened.  We  got  up  from  the  table, 
and  consulted  the  communication  board. 

"You  must  go  back,"  said  Louise,  and  Violet  again 
insisted  that  we  do  so.  However,  there  followed  more 
of  the  same  nature  as  before  and  after  a  few  moments 
we  went  back  upon  the  porch  again,  and  registered 
our  protest  on  the  board. 

"What  is  the  use  of  table-tipping?"  we  asked. 

Louise  replied,  "It  will  lead  to  speech.  You  must 
sit  every  night." 

"Would  it  be  just  as  good  sitting  without  Violet?" 

"No." 

"Would  not  Mrs.  Blank  do  as  well?" 

109 


no         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"I  would  rather  Violet." 

"Yes,  but  it  frightens  her  so  much." 

"It  won't." 

"Why  is  she  frightened?" 

Some  one  suggested  it  was  the  first  appearance  of 
the  supernatural  and  the  response  came,  "Yes." 

"How  can  we  influence  Brother  to  be  more  sym- 
pathetic?" 

"He  is  sympathetic,  but  does  not  want  to  believe." 

"Why?" 

"He  thinks  Violet  influences  all  this,  and  won't  be 
convinced  to  the  contrary." 

The  pencil  and  paper  were  called  for  and  a  note 
was  written  by  the  pencil.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  pencil  always  wrote  for  the  eyes  of  the  per- 
son to  whom  the  message  was  addressed,  no  matter 
on  which  side  of  the  table  he  or  she  was  sitting.  I 
have  seen  it  write  in  succession  four  messages,  each 
to  be  read  from  a  different  angle.  This  message  was 
to  Violet: 

"Dear  little  Sister: 

"Do   not  be   frightened.    We  would  not  hurt  you." 

Toward  dusk  the  next  day  we  took  up  the  board  and 
Louise  signified  her  presence.  I  asked  whether  I 
should  write  the  book  alone,  D.  having  said  she  had  no 
time  to  give  to  it.  Louise  replied :  "Mummy  must 
write  her  share."  We  discussed  the  book  at  some 
length,  and  then  she  said  she  wanted  to  write.  So 
a  paper  and  pencil  were  brought  and  she  again  in- 
scribed a  note  to  Violet: 

"Dear  little  Sister : 

"To-night  I  am  coming.  You  will  see  me.  Do  not  be  fright- 
ened. XXX  LOUISE  XXX" 


MANIFESTATIONS  1 1 1 

The  "X's,"  in  Louise's  letters  had  always  meant 
"kisses." 

"Won't  you  write  a  note  to  Auntie — dear  old  Auntie 
who  loved  you  so  much?"  asked  D. 

Immediately  the  direction  of  the  pencil  was  re- 
versed, and  this  letter  written  to  Louise's  great  aunt, 
who  was  visiting  relatives  in  Canada: 

"Dear  Auntie: 

"I  spoke  to  you  through  Mrs.  S.  If  you  will  get  a  board  it 
would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  write  you.  Love  from 

LOUISE." 

"Auntie"  had  had  one  sitting  with  Mrs.  S. 
Later  in  the  evening  D.  asked  if  a  postscript  could 

not  be  added  to  the  letter,  and  this  is  what  Louise 

wrote : 

"P.  S.  I  had  a  wonderfully  good  time  to-night.  Barrels  of 
love  and  oceans  of  kisses.  XXX  LOUISE  XXX" 

Darkness  came  while  this  was  going  on.  Suddenly 
the  word  "Table"  was  written  on  the  paper,  which  we 
interpreted  to  mean  that  we  should  go  inside  and  sit 
at  the  table. 

"Henriette  is  not  here.  Would  it  make  any  differ- 
ence if  she  does  not  come  to  the  table?"  D.  asked. 

Immediately  the  pencil  wrote  "Henriette." 

The  maid,  however,  was  out  of  the  house  and  we 
asked  if  we  could  not  get  along  without  her.  The 
answer  came,  "Yes." 

There  were  four  of  us  about  the  table,  Esther,  a 
neighbor,  D.,  Isabel  and  myself.  Immediately  after 
the  lights  were  put  out,  the  table  began  to  throb  with 
life.  We  were  told  that  eleven  spirits  were  present; 
Violet's  five  guides,  two  each  for  the  rest  of  us,  and 
in  addition,  Louise  and  Morton.  Suddenly  it  was 
demanded  from  the  table  that  we  stop  talking. 


112         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Almost  immediately  Violet  said,  "It  is  growing  very 
dark."  After  a  short  interval:  "I  see  a  light,  back 
there.  It  is  coming  nearer.  It  is  on  the  table.  No,  it 
is  beside  you  (indicating  D.).  Oh!  such  a  beautiful 
face.  It  is  like  the  picture  on  your  dressing  table.  Is 
it  Louise?  Yes.  She  says,  'Yes.'  She  is  putting  her 
arm  around  you,"  she  said  to  D. 

Suddenly  Violet's  own  arm  was  clasped  about  D. 
and  she  leaned  over  and  kissed  her  very  tenderly  sev- 
eral times,  just  as  Louise  used  to  do. 

"I  feel  as  if  Louise  were  really  doing  this  herself," 
murmured  D. 

This  from  Violet:  "You  are  going?  Please  don't 
go!"  A  pause.  "Please  come  again!  You  will,  to- 
morrow? There,  she's  gone!  Some  one  is  here  by 
me."  Violet  drew  back,  as  if  shrinking. 

"Why,  it  is  Father,"  she  said.  "When  did  you  come 
home?"  Then  she  gave  a  little  sigh  of  content  and 
there  was  a  sound  of  a  kiss.  A  long  pause ;  then  Isabel 
murmured,  "I'll  try,  Father." 

The  voice  of  Henriette  was  now  heard  at  the  door 
and  I  asked  if  she  should  be  invited  to  come  to  the 
table. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply,  and  I  turned  on  the  lights. 
Violet  awoke. 

"Why  doesn't  anything  happen  ?"  she  said.  "It  looks 
as  if  they  weren't  going  to  do  anything  to-night." 

"How  do  you  feel?"  asked  D. 

"Fine,"  was  the  reply. 

The  table  demanded  silence.  Almost  immediately, 
Violet  said,  "It  is  growing  dark.  Why,  Louise,  you 
are  back." 

"Yes,  I  see  a  light,"  interrupted  Henriette.  "But 
to  me  it  is  like  a  cloud." 


MANIFESTATIONS  1 13 

"I  can  see  distinctly;  it  is  Louise,"  said  Violet 
Henriette  got  up  to  get  a  glass  of  water  and  was 
about  to  resume  her  seat  when  Violet  cried,  "Do  not 
sit  down!  There  is  someone  in  your  chair." 

"Who  is  it?"  we  asked.  I  must  confess  I  felt  a 
sensation  as  if  my  hair  were  rising. 

"It  is  a  man.  I  don't  know  him.  He  is  on  your 
left,"  Violet  said  to  me.  "He  has  his  arm  around 
you." 

"Who  is  it?"  we  asked. 

"He  says  he  is "  then  she  began  to  spell  out: 

«A-u-s " 

"Is  it  Austin?"  I  interrupted. 

"Yes,"  she  replied.  "He  says  he  is  Austin.  He 
wants  to  tell  you  that  he  is  unable  to  talk  with  you 
through  the  board." 

"Austin"  was  my  brother,  who  had  died  several 
months  before.  Violet  had  never  heard  of  him,  and 
of  course  knew  nothing  of  his  death. 

"Has  he  not  talked  with  Mother?"  I  asked. 

"He  says,  'Yes.'  " 

Henriette  again  attempted  to  resume  her  seat,  but 
Violet  peremptorily  forbade  her  and  the  former 
brought  another  chair.  A  moment  later  Esther's 
husband  came  for  her  and  she  left.  The  four  of  us 
resumed  our  seats.  Immediately  Violet  saw  the  lights 
again,  and  Henriette  began  to  see  them.  Both  said 
they  could  see  several.  After  a  moment  Henriette 
said,  "The  room  is  full  of  lights." 

"There  is  a  man  sitting  at  my  side,"  said  Violet. 
"He  is  strange.  He  looks  like  a  foreigner.  He  says 
he  came  to  see  you" — she  spoke  to  Henriette.  "His 
name  is  G-u-s-t-a-a-f" — she  spelled  the  strange  name 
out. 


114         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Henrietta  almost  shrieked:  "He  is  my  brother, 
Gustaaf,  and  that  is  the  Flemish  way  of  spelling  his 
name." 

We  now  began  to  feel  that  the  strain  upon  Violet 
might  be  severe  and  brought  this  sitting  to  a  close. 

Violet's  thirteenth  birthday  came  the  next  day,  and 
in  the  evening  D.  and  I  heard  for  the  first  time  what 
purported  to  be  a  voice  from  the  other  world.  Be- 
fore this,  when  requests  came  through  the  board  to 
tip  table,  our  spirit  visitors  had  expressed  a  preference 
for  a  small  room  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  house, 
bearing  out  the  theory  held  by  some  psychical  in- 
vestigators, that  in  a  "cabinet"  better  results  are  ob- 
tainable in  spirit  communication. 

On  this  particular  night,  after  we  had  been  re- 
quested by  Louise  through  the  board  to  tip  table,  D., 
Violet  and  I  "assembled"  in  the  small  room  with  the 
little  table  I  had  made.  Immediately  the  light  was  put 
out  and  the  table  began  to  tip.  We  were  informed 
that  nine  spirits  were  present,  and  these  were  named 
as  Violet's  five  guides,  one  guide  each  for  D.  and  my- 
self, and  Louise  and  Morton.  After  a  few  minutes 
Violet  told  us  that  she  saw  Louise,  and  described  her. 
A  moment  later,  she  said  she  saw  all  the  guides,  and 
named  and  described  them  to  us. 

Now  we  had  no  idea  at  the  time  that  Violet  was 
semi-entranced,  nor  were  we  aware  of  it  a  little  later 
when  she  became  fully  entranced.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  was  several  nights  before  we  realized  what  had 
actually  been  happening. 

So  that  we  didn't  quite  know  what  to  make  of  it 
when  Violet  said,  in  a  deep  voice,  "John,"  and  repeated 
the  name  several  times.  We  were  told  later  that  it  was 


MANIFESTATIONS  1 1 5 

actually  "John,"  Violet's  guide,  using  Violet's  voice, 
and  that  he  thus  introduced  himself  to  us. 

"John"  spoke  then  and  there  with  an  appearance  of 
authority,  and  he  it  was  who  always  thereafter  as- 
sumed the  chief  role  among  our  ethereal  visitors.  He 
and  we  had  a  long  discussion  about  the  book  and  about 
religious  sects,  but  what  he  said  on  the  latter  subject 
he  warned  us  was  only  for  our  own  personal  informa- 
tion, and  should  not  be  made  public.  "John"  told  us 
that  we  should  not  think  of  keeping  Violet  with  us  as 
we  had  hoped  to  do,  but  that  she  must  go  back  to  her 
grandparents,  who  had  the  first  claim  upon  her,  and 
should  finish  her  course  at  school. 

For  several  evenings  our  sittings  were  mainly  of 
this  character  and  I  could  not  understand  what  pur- 
pose was  being  served  or  what  end  was  in  view.  Often- 
times friends  who  were  calling  took  part  in  the  sit- 
tings with  us,  and  after  we  had  once  seated  ourselves 
at  the  table,  the  spirits  insisted  that  we  tell  the  story 
of  the  summer  leading  up  to  the  present  time,  so  that 
the  visitors  might  be  prepared  for  what  was  going 
to  happen. 

Table-tipping  and  levitation  always  followed,  but, 
while  by  advice  of  our  spirit  visitors  we  refrained 
from  discussing  with  Violet  the  messages  she  trans- 
mitted or  what  she  herself  did  on  these  occasions, 
we  did  not  realize  that  a  way  was  being  prepared  for 
Louise  to  come  back  to  us  and  convince  us  of  her 
actual  presence;  that,  as  it  developed,  she  was  being 
shown  how  to  enter  the  body  of  her  half-sister,  and,  in 
her  own  personality,  as  it  were,  spend  the  evenings 
with  us.  We  had  protested  that  first  evening  when  the 
child  had  seen  manifestations  of  spirits,  but  after  her 


ii6         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

first  fright,  she  had  insisted  upon  the  table-sittings 
taking  place  every  night.  The  letters  from  Louise 
seemed  to  have  effect,  and  thereafter  she  was  never 
in  the  least  afraid. 


GOOD  SPIRITS  AND  BAD— THE  CHART 


CHAPTER  XII 

GOOD  SPIRITS  AND  BAD — THE  CHART 

THE  indicator  would  not  work  on  the  board,  one 
evening,  and  we  rubbed  the  latter  several  times 
to  overcome  the  dampness.  Finally  it  was  sig- 
nified that  a  spirit  was  present.  Later  on  we  were  told 
by  Louise  that  it  was  a  guide,  but  he  was  uncommuni- 
cative. The  answer  to  every  question  was  "no,"  or 
"I  don't  know,"  until  finally  we  asked,  "What  on 
earth  he  or  she  was  doing  on  earth  ?" 

The  answer  came  quickly :  "I  am  to  keep  you  busy 
until  Louise  comes." 

Finally,  in  reply  to  repeated  demands  for  identifica- 
tion, it  spelled  out  a  word  incorrectly. 

"That  is  not  a  name,"  we  objected. 

No  answer.  However,  in  a  few  moments,  a  new 
force,  and  stronger,  was  manifested  by  the  indicator. 
It  wrote,  "Some  one  else  is  here." 

"Who?" 

"Julius.  Gordon  is  also  here.  We  met  here  and  our 
joy  is  complete." 

"But  had  not  you  and  your  son  met  before?" 

"I  was  sensible  of  his  presence,  but  I  could  not 
recognize  him.  Now  we  have  met  and  are  very  happy, 
as  I  said  before.  Gordon  says,"  he  continued,  "  'Tell 
Mother  I  am  happy  and  enjoying  life;  as  ever,  Yours 
truly.'  " 

"Did  you  intend  that  last  as  part  of  a  signature?" 
119 


V 

120         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"That  was  not  a  signature.  It  was  an  expression. 
Tell  Mother  that  I  send  my  very  best  love.  Au  revoir." 

This  was  apparently  direct  from  Gordon. 

And  then  began  a  light  and  merry  conversation. 
We  heard  distant  sounds  of  a  crowd  at  Sound  Beach, 
half  a  mile  away,  where  a  Firemen's  Carnival  was 
being  held.  The  indicator  spelled  out;  "Carnival.  I 
want  to  go..  Please  give  me  some  money,  Daddy." 

I  placed  a  cent  upon  the  indicator. 

"That  is  not  enough.    I  want  five  dollars." 

I  put  a  ten-dollar  bill  on  the  indicator,  and  then 
was  written;  "Thanks,  I  will  keep  the  change." 

After  a  brief  interval  came: 

"I  have  spent  that.    Please  double  it." 

Her  mother  jokingly  folded  the  bill,  but  the  indi- 
cator wrote  quickly,  "I  want  twenty  dollars."  I  laid 
another  bill  on  the  indicator,  which  immediately 
spelled,  "Thanks." 

"Tell  us,  do  you  ever  see  anything  of  Cleopatra, 
Ptolemy,  Caesar,  Marc  Antony  or  any  of  those  ancient 
worthies?"  I  asked. 

"No,  they  have  gone  on." 

I  asked  if  Louise  remembered  a  song  I  had  written 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

She  said,  "Yes." 

"How  does  it  compare  with  the  music  of  the 
spheres?"  asked  D.,  seeking  to  tease  me. 

"Pinhead!    Our  music  is  so  beautiful." 

The  indicator  was  now  working  with  difficulty,  the 
pieces  of  felt  at  the  bottom  of  the  legs  having  worn 
and  become  gluey. 

"I  want  a  new  pair  of  shoes,"  spelled  the  indicator. 
Louise  had  often  called  these  pieces  of  felt,  "shoes." 

"But  shoes  are  awfully  high." 


GOOD  SPIRITS  AND  BAD— CHART  121 

"Give  me  twelve  dollars.  No,  give  me  twenty  dol- 
lars. I  can  get  better  shoes  at  that  price." 

"Where  would  you  get  them?" 

"At  the  K Bootery."  That  was  a  reference  to 

her  brother's  shoe  box,  which  contained  a  pair  of  old 
felt  slippers  whose  tops  I  had  thought  of  using  to  re- 
pair the  indicator.  She  continued :  "I  want  new 
shoes  now.  These  scratch." 

D.  put  a  thumb  tack  in  the  forefoot  of  the  indi- 
cator. The  latter  spelled,  "Ouch!  don't  stick  tacks 
into  my  toes !" 

I  finished  the  new  "shoes"  and  put  them  on  the  in- 
dicator. The  result  was  surprising,  for  it  fairly  flew 
over  the  board. 

"These  are  fine — bedroom  slippers — cosy  com- 
forts," it  spelled. 

"Cosy  comforts"  was  actually  the  trade  name  of 
the  slippers  from  which  I  had  cut  the  felt,  though  none 
of  us  knew  it  at  the  time. 

Later  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  could  improve  upon 
the  communication  board  and  perhaps  the  indicator. 
This  was  confirmed  by  Louise,  who  said  she  would 
consult  with  more  experienced  spirits  and  next  day 
would  give  us  the  results.  She  promised  to  draw  a 
chart  for  a  new  board. 

When  I  reached  home  from  town  the  following  eve- 
ning this  chart  was  ready,  Louise  having  drawn  it 
with  Violet  and  her  mother  holding  a  pencil.  It  was, 
of  course,  a  rough  sketch,  but  it  contained  many  im- 
provements over  the  old  communication  board.  It 
showed  a  new  arrangement  of  the  alphabet,  words  in 
frequent  use — principally  important  conjunctions  and 
pronouns — essential  marks  of  punctuation,  and 
phrases  and  family  titles.  Louise  said  that  Morton 


122         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

had  assisted  her  in  drawing  the  chart.  It  was  this 
chart,  worked  out  into  practical  form,  that  we  used 
thereafter  when  we  employed  a  "board." 

Louise  now  announced  that  she  had  some  work  to 
do  and  would  not  be  able  to  use  the  communication 
board  for  several  days.  She  would  not  explain  what 
this  duty  was  nor  would  Morton.  It  was  interesting 
to  be  told,  in  view  of  the  theories  that  have  been  ad- 
vanced by  scientists,  that  she  applied  her  power  not 
to  the  point  of  the  pencil  nor  to  its  middle  but  to  the 
top.  Also  is  interesting  her  explanation  as  to  how 
the  indicator  on  a  communication  board  is  worked  by 
a  spirit.  The  fingers  of  the  two  visible  operators  are 
placed,  one  on  the  base  and  the  other  on  the  point 
of  the  indicator,  and  the  spirit  hand  rests  between  the 
two  human  hands,  its  fingers  taking  hold  of  the  nar- 
row neck  of  the  indicator.  Often,  however,  we  were 
told,  the  spirit  agent  applies  its  force  at  the  point. 

After  dinner,  having  fashioned  a  board  after  the 
design  given  us  from  the  spirit  world,  I  tried  the 
ordinary  indicator  on  it  and  it  worked  with  astonish- 
ing rapidity.  However,  Louise  was  not  there,  the 
operator  from  the  other  world  being  Morton,  who 
after  a  few  words  ordered  us  to  the  table  and  refused 
to  communicate  further.  Following  a  short  session 
at  the  table,  we  could  get  no  communication  whatever 
with  the  board.  From  neither  the  table  nor  the  board 
could  we  obtain  information  as  to  how  long  Louise 
would  be  absent,  and  our  household  was  plunged  into 
gloom.  We  were  not  looking  for  phenomena;  we 
simply  wanted  to  hold  our  nightly  chats  with  Louise. 


IN  THE  FLESH 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN  THE  FLESH 

AND  now  came  Louise  to  us  in  the  flesh;  not  in 
the  body  we  had  known  as  hers,  but  in  that  of 
her  little  half-sister,  and  without  the  latter's 
knowledge.  This,  it  was  revealed  later,  was  what  the 
events  of  the  summer  had  been  leading  up  to. 

It  happened  on  Monday,  August  n.  That  after- 
noon Violet  and  D.  were  told  by  Louise  to  construct 
a  "cabinet"  in  a  little  room  upstairs  over  which  the 
rafters  sloped.  Minute  instructions  were  given  them, 
even  to  directions  about  using  the  steamer  rugs,  and 
where  to  hang  them.  They  were  told  that  they  could 
leave  the  electric  light  on,  but  must  darken  the  bulb, 
and  a  red  cloth  was  wrapped  about  this.  We  were 
informed  that  any  other  color  of  light  than  red  takes 
something  out  of  the  atmosphere  that  is  necessary  in 
what  the  spirits  try  to  accomplish. 

After  dinner  Violet  and  I  got  out  the  communica- 
tion board.  Immediately,  Louise  signified  her  pres- 
ence and  wrote: 

"Daddy,  go  upstairs  and  take  a  look  at  my  cabinet." 

After  I  had  come  back  and  reported,  she  said :  "I 
want  you  and  Violet  and  Mummy  to  go  up  there  and 
sit  at  the  table."  And  so,  at  nine  o'clock,  the  usual 
hour,  we  did  as  we  had  been  directed. 

No  sooner  had  we  taken  our  seats  than  the  table 

125 


126         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

began  to  get  active.  After  a  few  short  levitations,  it 
suddenly  rose  and  touched  the  rafters,  six  feet  from 
the  floor,  and  remained  suspended  long  enough  for 
us  to  count  three.  Again,  and  then  for  the  third  time 
it  gave  this  performance.  Next  it  rose  more  than 
two  feet  in  the  air,  and  moved  down  the  room,  while 
thus  suspended,  a  distance  of  about  four  feet.  After 
it  returned  to  the  floor,  it  danced  about  vigorously, 
as  if  in  jubilation. 

According  to  our  custom  we  asked  how  many 
spirits  were  present.  The  answer  was  given  as  "nine," 
and  were  named  as  three  guides  for  Violet,  one  for 
D.,  one  for  myself,  and  Louise,  Morton,  my  brother 
Austin,  and  again,  "Julius."  The  latter,  we  were  told 
later,  remained  only  a  short  time. 

After  doing  many  other  acts  of  levitation,  such  as 
jumping  upon  the  lap  of  each  of  us  in  turn,  flying 
short  distances  through  the  air,  and  so  on,  the  table 
demanded  the  alphabet.  Then  followed  this  com- 
mand, "Sing." 

Only  the  night  before  had  it  demanded  "Old  Ken- 
tucky Home,"  spelling  the  name  out.  We  are  given 
to  understand  that  by  the  singing  of  melodies  a  sort 
of  harmonious  condition  is  developed  in  the  atmos- 
phere, which  assists  spirits  in  doing  acts  of  levitation. 
After  we  had  rendered  rather  lamely,  "Suwanee 
Rive*-,"  "Juanita,"  and  others  of  the  old  "close  har- 
mony" type,  D.  attempted  to  sing  a  Broadway  favor- 
ite, but  was  rebuked.  She  suggested,  "Onward,  Chris- 
tian Soldiers!"  but  a  very  sharp  "No!"  was  registered. 
One  or  two  other  well-known  hymns  were  rejected  in 
the  same  fashion.  We  asked  what  would  be  an  accept- 
able tune,  and  the  table  spelled  out,  "Holy  God  We 
Praise  Thy  Name." 


IN  THE  FLESH  127 

Neither  D.  nor  I  knew  such  a  song.  After  a  time 
Violet  remembered  that  she  knew  one  that  began  that 
way,  and  sang  it.  Then  we  attempted  to  render 
"Holy,  Holy,  Holy,"  or  as  much  as  we  could  remem- 
ber of  it,  and  felt  we  had  about  exhausted  our  reper- 
tory. 

After  a  moment  or  two  the  table  was  wrenched 
from  our  hands  and  thrown  off  into  a  corner.  Violet, 
who  had  been  seated  opposite  us,  came  and  sat  on  the 
couch  between  D.  and  myself.  I  recovered  the  table 
and  asked  if  we  were  properly  seated.  The  answer 
came,  "Yes." 

Violet  then  began  to  breathe  heavily  as  if  in  deep 
sleep,  and  her  weight  fell  against  D.  I  tried  to  raise 
her,  but  she  was  limp  and  heavy,  and  we  let  her  re- 
cline, pillowing  her  head.  In  a  moment  she  sat  up 
between  us,  now  in  a  trance,  and  said  in  a  whisper, 
"It  is  Louise." 

"Do  you  mean  that  Louise  is  speaking  with  Violet's 
voice?" 

The  answer  was  "Yes,"  and  thereafter,  for  some 
time,  it  seemed  as  if  Louise  herself  were  actually  with 
us.  Alternately  she  petted  her  mother  and  me.  She 
told  us  to  ask  questions.  D.  was  most  interested  in 
her  music. 

"Do  you  mean  when  you  told  me  you  took  singing 
lessons  over  there  that  you  actually  took  lessons,  or 
just  simply  knew  things,  as  it  were?"  she  asked. 

"I  have  teachers — spirits  who  were  famous  musi- 
cians on  earth  and  who  are  well  qualified.  I  cannot 
give  you  their  names." 

Suddenly  she  said:  "Mother  I  almost  cried  to- 
day. I  heard  you  say  you  did  not  love  little  sister  as 
you  did  me." 


128        REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Upon  being  pressed  for  details  she  continued:    "It 

was  at  breakfast,  and  you  were  talking  to  Mrs. . 

I  always  thought  you  loved  little  sister  as  you  did  me, 
and  I  do  love  her  so." 

"But,  are  you  really  Louise?" 

"Yes,  my  spirit  is  using  Violet's  body.  You  cannot 
see  the  real  me,  but  you  can  feel  that  I  am  using  her 
hands  and  arms  and  that  I  can  arise  and  walk" — and 
she  suited  action  to  word. 

"You  must  love  little  sister  as  you  loved  me,"  she 
went  on.  "Furthermore,  you  must  remember  she  is 
not  grown  up  as  I  was.  I  was  not  perfect  when  I  was 
little,  either.  You  simply  idealized  me." 

Then  she  turned  to  me:  "Daddy — about  the  book. 
Ask  me  questions." 

I  reminded  her  that  much  of  what  she  had  given 
me  about  the  spirit  life,  though  by  no  means  the 
greater  part,  had  come  in  the  form  of  affirmations  or 
denials  of  questions.  I  suggested  that  she  tell  me 
connectedly,  if  she  could,  something  about  the  life  on 
the  spirit  plane.  Incidentally,  I  mentioned  that  I  had 
a  headache.  Suddenly  the  hands  of  Violet  arose  to 
my  forehead,  moved  over  it  with  a  soft,  caressing 
touch,  cool  and  healing.  Several  times  these  motions 
were  repeated  and  my  headache  actually  disappeared. 

"Can  you  do  what  I  asked?"  I  persisted. 

"I  am  thinking,"  came  the  reply.  Then,  after  a 
pause : 

"This  is  the  life.  There  is  never  any  unhappiness 
here.  Although  this  is  but  a  continuation,  this  life 
is  the  same  as  yours,  only  much  happier  and  much 
more  enlightened." 

"Do  you  have  houses  to  live  in?" 

"Not   exactly.      You    have   heard   the    expression, 


IN  THE  FLESH  129 

'building  castles  in  the  air.'  That,  in  effect,  is  what 
we  do — and  live  in  them." 

"But  what  do  spirits  really  do?  What  is  their 
course  after  quitting  the  body?" 

"Do  you  mean  good  spirits,  or  bad?" 

"Good  spirits,"  I  answered. 

"A  good  spirit,  the  minute  the  body  of  that  spirit 
has  died,  is  met  by  sweet  spirits  from  this  plane — 
mostly  those  who  were  friends  on  earth — who  have 
come  to  take  that  spirit  with  them.  On  arriving  in 
this  other  world,  if  that  spirit  has  not  looked  forward 
in  life  and  has  made  no  attempt  to  prepare  for  a  future 
life,  it  does  not  realize  at  first  where  it  is;  it  only 
believes  it  is  still  on  earth.  Afterwards,  some  good 
spirit  may  come  along  and  help  this  new  spirit — bring 
it  up  higher.  From  then  on  we  fulfill  our  daily  duties 
the  same  as  you  do,  until  we  are  enlightened  and  pre- 
pared for  Heaven.  Then  the  gates  open,  and  the 
spirit  passes  on  to  Eternal  Happiness." 

"And  the  bad  spirits  ?"  I  asked. 

"They  are  earth-bound,  and  may  have  to  stay  on 
earth  for  thousands  of  years,  wandering  about,  un- 
seen and  unrecognized  by  those  who  were  dear  to  them 
in  their  former  life.  Then,  when  finally  they  leave 
earth,  they  may  have  to  stay  in  our  world  thousands 
of  years  more.  Then,  only,  may  the  spirits  of  the 
wicked  begin  to  take  steps,  toward  Heaven.  If  a 
spirit  has  been  terribly,  unforgivably  bad  during  its 
life  in  the  flesh,  it  is  unhappy  forever." 

"Anti-Christs  are  not  earth-born,"  she  said  in  an- 
swer to  a  question.  "There  is  war  between  the  good 
spirits  and  bad,  not  only  in  your  world  but  in  ours. 
I  have  never  seen  an  evil  spirit." 

"Then  any  man  who  tries  to  do  right  in  this  life 


130         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

has  a  good  chance  of  getting  to  Heaven?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  was  the  reply;  "and  if  one  has  really  re- 
pented, his  chances  are  equally  good." 

There  was  a  pause.  Then  came,  faintly,  "I  have 
to  get  more  strength — wait." 

Violet's  figure  reclined  for  a  moment  and  we  heard 
several  deep  intakes  of  breath.  This  was  only  mo- 
mentary, for  an  upright  posture  was  soon  resumed. 
I  asked  for  some  more  information  about  guides. 

"As  you  were  told  before,"  Louise  resumed,  "when 
a  child  is  born,  two  spirits  from  Heaven  are  assigned 
to  guide  it  through  life.  As  the  child  grows  it  may 
call  more  spirits  to  it,  either  good  or  bad  as  the  child's 
nature  is  good  or  bad.  Yes,  guides  have  been  in 
Heaven,"  she  said  in  response  to  a  question. 

"Do  all  things  in  your  world  seem  tangible?"  D. 
asked. 

"Yes,  and  no." 

"Do  you  eat?" 

"In  a  way,  yes.  We  don't  have  to  eat,  but  we  may 
if  we  materialize;  we  may  prove  our  materialization 
by  eating." 

"Is  this  what  you  call  materialization?" 

"No.    My  spirit  is  simply  in  Violet's  body." 

"When  you  speak  on  the  board,  are  you  actually 
present  ?" 

"Yes.  I  am  standing  there,  and  I  place  my  hand  on 
the  indicator  between  your  fingers  and  those  of  the 
other  person,  taking  hold  of  the  little  neck  of  the  in- 
dicator." 

"Do  you  prefer  this  form  of  communication?" 

"Yes — it  is  more  direct." 

She  touched  her  mother's  face.  "Don't  you  feel 
that?"  she  asked.  "I  am  proud  of  my  efforts.  I  am 


IN  THE  FLESH  131 

able  to  control  this  medium  better  than  any  other." 

"Why  is  it?"  asked  D.,  "that  you  don't  remember 
some  things  that  I  have  mentioned." 

"There  are  things  I  wish  to  forget  and  there  is  so 
much  now  to  know.  No,  I  would  not  care  to  come 
back.  Daddy  and  Mummy,  I  must  go  now.  You  are 
tired." 

"But  Mummy  is  not  tired,"  protested  D. 

"Yes;  Violet  is  coming  back  now.     Good-by." 


AN  ADVENTURE  INTO  SPIRITUALISTIC 
REALISM 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AN  ADVENTURE   INTO   SPIRITUALISTIC   REALISM 

ON  August  12,  we  were  in  town.  Having  learned 
what  we  had  about  the  possession  of  medium- 
istic  power  by  persons  who  frequently  did  not 
suspect  it,  we  happened  to  think  of  a  very  good  friend 
of  ours  and  Louise's,  a  man  of  Armenian  birth,  of 
scholarly  attainments,  and  exceptionally  well-read, 
whose  extreme  sensitiveness  to  outside  impressions  we 
had  frequently  remarked.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  during 
the  few  days  preceding,  we  had  spoken  of  having  him 
visit  us  in  the  country,  and  now  D.  thought,  as  we 
were  going  to  spend  the  night  in  our  apartment,  we 
ought  to  have  him  to  dinner. 

Over  the  telephone,  Mr.  K.  told  D.  he  had  just  had 
a  shock  because  of  the  death  of  a  young  friend,  but 
accepted  the  invitation.  D.  immediately  afterward 
went  to  the  communication  board,  where  a  guide  sig- 
nified its  presence.  Then  she  was  told  that  a  young 
man  whose  name  was  given  as  "Francis  James  Alban, 
an  Armenian,"  had  died  in  Mamaroneck  the  day  be- 
fore. We  thought  this  might  prove  to  be  Mr.  K.'s 
friend,  but  we  were  mistaken.  It  developed  that  the 
spirit  that  had  guided  the  indicator  was  a  stranger  to 
Louise,  and  we  were  somewhat  mystified.  However, 
we  had  learned  that  other  spirits  who  wish  to  get 
through  to  friends  on  earth  frequently  force  their 
presence  on  communication  boards,  in  the  hope  that 

135 


136         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

they  may  be  able  to  make  delivery  of  a  message 
through  the  good  offices  of  the  person  using  the  board. 

After  we  had  gone  home  from  dinner,  the  board  im- 
mediately made  a  demand  for  "table."  We  had  none 
in  the  house  small  enough  to  be  used,  and  asked  if  a 
heavy,  high,  wooden  stool  would  be  satisfactory. 
There  was  some  hesitation  about  accepting  this  sub- 
stitute, but  when  tried,  it  was  found  to  work  satisfac- 
torily. We  were  directed  to  go  into  D.'s  dressing 
room  and  shut  out  all  light  if  possible.  However,  a 
reasonable  amount  came  through  the  window  from 
without. 

Immediately  the  stool  began  levitating.  After  a  few 
efforts,  it  suddenly  rose  until  my  hand  struck  against 
the  chandelier,  more  than  six  feet  above  the  floor. 
Several  times  this  performance  was  repeated.  Our 
guest  was  amazed.  We  were  informed  that  he  had 
considerable  of  the  mystic  power.  After  a  number 
of  questions  had  been  answered,  the  table  called  for 
the  alphabet,  and  registered  "T."  This  was  the  signal 
that  Violet  was  about  to  go  into  a  trance.  Later  on, 
several  other  code  signals  were  developed,  one  a  green 
light.  When  Violet  saw  the  latter,  it  meant  that  she 
was  about  to  become  entranced. 

We  heard  her  draw  several  long  breaths,  and  she 
sank  back  in  her  chair.  A  brief  interval,  and  a  whis- 
per came :  "It's  Louise." 

"Do  you  mean  that  Louise's  spirit  has  now  taken 
possession  of  Violet's  body  ?" 

"Yes.    Wait!" 

She  arose  and  went  and  lay  upon  the  couch.  D. 
addressed  a  question  to  her. 

"Wait,"  came  the  whispered  answer. 

After  a  brief   interval,   she  returned  to  the  table 


INTO  SPIRITUALISTIC  REALISM  137 

and  caressed  D.  and  me.  Then  she  sighed :  "Mummy, 
I  have  not  enough  power." 

A  fearful  din  was  coming  from  the  street  into  which 
the  little  court  outside  opened.  I  closed  the  window. 
She  got  up  from  the  table  and  went  to  the  window,  and 
tried  to  open  it.  I  raised  the  heavy  sash,  and  she 
peered  out,  though  her  eyes  were  closed  as  if  to  see 
whence  came  the  noise.  "Close  the  window,"  she  said, 
and  went  back  to  the  table. 

"Let's  go  to  Mother's  room,"  she  whispered  after 
a  moment.  This  meant  her  mother's  bedroom,  a  room 
into  which  came  hardly  any  noise.  She  arose  and 
started  for  the  doorway;  but  stopped  in  front  of  a 
mirror  in  a  wardrobe  door,  and  looked  at  it.  I  say 
"looked,"  though  her  eyes  were  still  shut.  She  started 
to  pass  through  the  doorway;  but  drew  back.  "Turn 
out  that  light,"  she  commanded. 

The  only  light  there  was  in  the  hall  came  from  an 
electric  bulb  in  the  hallway  outside  the  apartment.  I 
stepped  out  and  turned  the  key,  and  was  rewarded  by 
a  "That  was  right." 

Then,  with  me  following  closely,  she  moved  up  our 
long  hall,  stumbling  at  times — for  it  was  explained  to 
us  that  walking  is  extremely  difficult  for  a  spirit  that 
has  had  little  practice  in  entering  a  human  body — 
until  she  came  to  D.'s  bedroom.  She  entered,  sat  upon 
the  bed,  and  then  reclined,  apparently  to  gather  power. 

After  a  short  period,  she  got  up,  and  started  for 
the  door,  with  me  just  behind  her. 

"Where  are  you  going,  Pet  ?"  demanded  D. 

"I  want  to  look  at  the  house,"  was  the  reply. 

Up  the  hall  she  made  her  way,  her  eyes  still  closed, 
and  turned  into  the  dining-room  on  the  left.  There 
was  no  light  in  any  of  the  rooms,  except  what  came 


138         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

through  the  windows.  At  the  old  phonograph,  almost 
unused  since  she  had  danced  to  it,  and  broken  and 
nearly  "voiceless,"  she  paused,  and  carefully  turned  it 
on.  After  two  or  three  minutes,  she  turned  it  off.  Then 
she  went  through  the  double  doorway  into  the  draw- 
ing-room, and  made  her  way  to  one  of  the  windows, 
beneath  which,  was  a  bookcase  containing  a  miscel- 
laneous collection.  From  the  latter  she  selected  a 
small  volume,  and  clasped  it  in  her  arms. 

"My  book,"  she  said;  "my  book!" 

This  we  found  later  was  a  "Chardenal's  French 
Course,"  and  upon  the  fly-leaf  was  written  her  name  in 
her  own  hand. 

From  the  bookcase  she  moved  along  the  end  of  the 
room  to  the  high,  old-fashioned  desk  in  the  corner, 
whose  top  was  a  sort  of  family  shrine,  for  on  it  stood 
a  large  photograph  of  Louise,  a  smaller  picture  of 
her  fiance,  and  one  of  her  brother,  in  his  uniform. 

She  took  up  the  picture  of  her  fiance  and  clasped  it 
to  her  breast. 

"My  Dick"— a  pause.  "My  Dick,  my  Dick!"  in  the 
tenderest,  saddest  accents.  Then  she  gave  a  sob  that 
wrung  our  hearts,  it  was  so  real. 

With  the  pictitre  and  the  book  she  moved  across 
the  room  to  the  doorway  leading  out  into  the  hall, 
through  it  and  along  the  hall  until  she  reached  the 
door  of  the  room  on  the  right  that  had  been  hers. 
She  entered. 

"My  room,"  she  whispered. 

She  went  in  and  stopped  at  the  dressing  table,  upon 
which  she  put  the  photograph  and  the  book.  She 
looked  into  the  mirror.  Then  she  moved  toward  the 
bed. 

"My  bed,"  she  said,  and  lay  down  upon  it. 


LOUISE  AT  HOME 
(A  Snapshot) 


INTO  SPIRITUALISTIC  REALISM   139 

After  a  moment,  she  got  up  and  went  back  into  the 
room  in  which  we  had  first  sat. 

I  volunteered  to  put  the  photograph  and  the  book 
back  where  they  belonged. 

"No,"  was  the  reply,  "I  shall  put  them  back  my- 
self." 

And  she  got  up  and  moved,  stumbling  somewhat, 
but  much  less  than  before,  found  her  way  up  the  hall 
and  into  the  drawing-room,  halted  again  before  the 
bookcase,  and  laid  the  book  upon  it.  Then  she  ap- 
proached the  desk.  She  again  clasped  the  picture  in 
her  arms,  and  breathed,  "My  Dick!  My  Dick!"  and 
kissed  the  photograph  before  depositing  it  lovingly 
upon  the  desk. 

The  window  by  the  desk  was  open,  and  the  curtain 
was  flapping  about  in  a  way  that  had  often  dislodged 
the  picture.  There  was  a  wide-flanged  Tiffany  glass 
vase  on  the  desk.  This  she  placed  in  front  of  Dick's 
picture  in  such  a  way  that  the  latter  stood  firmly,  and 
then  into  the  vase  she  put  a  little  bronze  owl  seal, 
weighing,  perhaps,  half  a  pound,  so  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  the  curtain  to  move  the  picture. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  war,  her  brother  had  had 
two  photographs  taken,  one  of  which  made  him  look 
very  serious,  while  the  other  showed  him  smiling.  It 
was  the  former  that  stood  on  the  other  side  of  Louise's 
picture. 

"I  do  not  like  this  photograph,"  she  said.  "Put  the 
other  one  there."  She  then  went  slowly  back  to 
the  dressing-room. 

I  was  now  alone  with  her,  D.  and  Mr.  K.  having 
lingered  behind  to  discuss  what  was  happening.  She 
went  to  her  mother's  dressing  table,  peered  in  the 
glass,  and  from  the  articles  on  the  dresser  selected 


140         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

one  I  could  not  see.  Then  she  went  back  to  the  couch 
and  called,  "Mummy!" 

I  repeated  the  summons. 

"What  is  it,  dear?"  asked  D.  going  to  her  side.  D. 
could  distinguish  that  she  was  holding  something  in 
her  hand. 

Now  during  her  life  with  us,  Louise  when  she  had 
received  a  letter  from  what  to  her  was  one  of  the  most 
important  of  persons,  or  when  she  had  something  she 
pretended  she  did  not  wish  her  mother  to  see,  would 
often  turn  her  head  away  like  a  little  child,  and  make 
as  if  to  conceal  her  treasure.  The  form  on  the  couch 
went  through  exactly  the  same  motions.  Then  Louise 
whispered,  "Bend  down — closer." 

D.  did  as  she  was  told.  Suddenly  the  figure  that 
was  Violet's  made  a  motion  with  one  arm,  jabbing  a 
powder  puff  down  into  its  box,  and  before  D.  could 
guess  what  was  coming,  her  face  was  covered  profuse- 
ly with  powder. 

"Leave  it  on,"  coaxed  a  voice  that  was  just  like 
Louise's. 

"But  it  might  scare  Violet  when  she  awakes." 

A  laugh  sounded — a  laugh  that  began  as  Louise's, 
but  which  ended  harshly  and  unnaturally.  We  were 
startled. 

"Why,  dear,  that  is  the  first  time  I  have  heard  you 
laugh,"  said  D. 

"Yes,"  came  the  voice,  wearily.  "I  was  not  suc- 
cessful. Laughing  is  very  hard  to  do.  But,  Mummy, 
I  am  really  proud  of  what  I  have  been  able  to  do  to- 
night." 

She  arose  and  went  back  to  the  table.  "Good-by," 
she  whispered.  "Violet  is  coming  back." 

And  sure  enough,  in  less  than  a  minute  Violet  awoke 


INTO  SPIRITUALISTIC  REALISM   141 

and  in  her  natural  voice,  asked,  "Well,  why  doesn't 
the  table  go  on  tipping?" 

We  adjourned  to  the  drawing-room  and  took  up 
again  the  communication  board.  Louise  was  there. 
We  asked  how  many  spirits  had  been  present.  She 
answered,  "Twenty,  at  first,  but  all  left  after  a  time 
except  Father  and  myself.  We  were  able  to  do  every- 
thing that  was  done.  The  others  were  merely  on- 
lookers." 

We  asked  her  to  recall  something  that  all  of  us 
would  remember. 

"I  can  remember  Riverside,"  she  spelled  out  on  the 
board,  very  fast,  "when  we  all  played  ball  on  the 
lawn.  We  had  eaten  raspberries,  grown  in  the  gar- 
den. Daddy  was  building  a  chicken  coop,  and  my 

two  friends,  the  S s,  were  there.  We  danced 

around  on  the  lawn  and  had  a  very  good  time." 

Then  three  of  us  recalled  that  in  the  summer  of 
1915,  the  last  before  Louise's  illness,  Mr.  K.  and  two 
French  friends  of  ours,  Mile.  A.  and  Mile.  C.,  had 

spent  a  Sunday  with  us,  and  the  S s  had  come  over 

after  luncheon.  Louise  took  part  in  a  little  game  of 
ball  on  the  lawn,  in  which  Mile.  C.'s  awkward  ef- 
forts to  throw  the  ball  in  the  American  way  had 
amused  us  all  very  much.  We  remembered,  too,  that 
that  day  we  had  had  our  first  raspberries  for  dinner, 
and  we  recalled  the  dancing,  and  the  fact  that  I  had 
spent  the  afternoon  building  a  little  portable  chicken 
coop  for  a  hen  and  her  brood. 


INTRODUCING  SOME  FRIENDS  OF  LOUISE 


CHAPTER  XV 

INTRODUCING   SOME   FRIENDS  OF  LOUISE 

WHEN  I  took  up  the  board  after  going  home  in 
the  evening  of  the  following  day  I  remarked 
to  Louise  that  I  thought  she  must  have  been 
with  me,  for  I  had  done  a  great  deal  of  work.    Busi- 
ness had  gone  very  well  and  I  had   found  time  to 
accomplish  something  on  the  book. 

"No,  I  was  not  there,"  she  replied;  "but  I  can  tell 
you  that  Julius,  Austin,  and  your  guide,  Albert,  were 
with  you." 

"Do  you  really  mean  to  say  that  Julius  was  in  my 
office  assisting  me?" 

"Yes." 

Next  followed  the  usual  command  to  tip  table  and 
we  were  directed  to  go  upstairs  for  this — D.,  Violet 
and  myself. 

The  first  thing  that  happened  was  a  levitation  of 
the  table  to  the  ceiling.  Then,  despite  our  protests, 
we  were  directed  to  sing.  This  time  our  visitors  were 
willing  to  hear  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers."  When 
they  answered  "Yes"  to  a  question  of  D.'s  as  to 
whether  they  preferred  "old  chestnuts,"  we  tried 
"Suwanee  River"  and  some  of  its  contemporaries,  and 
the  table  made  no  protest.  Then  we  sang  a  little 
French  song  with  which  Louise's  memory  will  always 
be  linked— "Colinette." 

145 


146         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

I  can  see  her  now,  sitting  at  the  piano,  playing  her 
graceful  accompaniment  and  rendering  with  inimita- 
ble pathos : 

"Elle  est  morte  en  Fevrier; 
Pauvre   Colinette !    Pauvre   Colinette !" 

Whenever  she  sang  that,  both  her  mother  and  I 
used  to  experience  a  chill  of  apprehension.  The  song 
was  associated  with  Louise  by  several  of  our  friends. 
As  we  sang,  the  table  kept  time  in  gentle  cadence.  It 
was  the  same  when  we  started  "Bonsoir,  Madame  la 
Lune,"  which  Louise  so  often  would  sing  at  my  re- 
quest. 

After  this  the  table  tilted  slightly  twenty  times.  I 
asked  if  it  meant  that  twenty  spirits  were  present, 
but  an  emphatic  "No"  was  registered.  Then  some- 
thing occurred  to  me.  "Do  you  mean  the  twentieth 
letter  of  the  alphabet?"  I  inquired. 

"Yes,"  was  the  answer. 

The  twentieth  letter  of  the  alphabet,  "T,"  was  the 
signal  that  Violet  was  about  to  go  into  a  trance. 

It  must  be  emphasized  that  not  up  to  this  time  nor 
until  our  summer  was  almost  finished  did  Violet  have 
the  slightest  suspicion  that  she  was  subject  to  trances. 
What  she  said,  saw  or  did  while  in  that  condition,  or 
even  in  a  semi-trance,  she  never  remembered. 

However,  the  signal,  it  proved,  had  come  early, 
for  Violet  did  not  go  into  a  trance  at  that  moment. 
Instead,  she  demanded  that  the  spirits  rap  on  the 
table.  We  had  tried  this  several  times  with  success, 
but  the  rapping  had  been  very  faint.  Now  followed 
a  series  of  taps  that  were  much  louder  than  any  we  had 
ever  heard.  Soon  the  alphabet  was  called  for  and 
"T"  registered  again.  This  time  there  was  no  mis- 


INTRODUCING  FRIENDS  OF  LOUISE    147 

take,  for  almost  immediately  Violet,  who  had  taken  a 
seat  between  us,  began  to  slumber.  In  less  than  five 
minutes  her  figure  was  sitting  erect  again,  and  the 
whisper  of  Louise  informed  us  that  our  daughter  was 
now  with  us  "in  the  flesh."  She  did  not  say  much  at 
first.  After  a  moment,  she  arose  and  went  to  the  win- 
dow, raised  the  curtain,  and  then  lifted  the  sash.  Next 
she  put  down  the  latter  and  lowered  the  curtain.  When 
she  had  resumed  her  seat  I  said,  struck  by  her  action 
and  mindful  of  what  we  had  been  told : 

"Is  it  possible  that  persons  who  walk  in  their  sleep 
are  under  the  control  of  spirits?" 

"Yes;  their  own  spirits  have  left  their  bodies  and 
other  spirits  have  taken  possession  of  them." 

Her  next  act  rather  startled  us,  for  she  climbed 
upon  the  bed,  stood  up,  and  then  jumped  to  the  floor. 
This  action  she  repeated.  Her  object,  she  explained, 
was  to  show  us  that  she  was  gaining  control  of  Vio- 
let's lower  limbs.  Then  she  leaned  over  to  where  a 
box  of  candy  lay  upon  a  dressing  table,  took  it  up, 
removed  the  cover  and  passed  it  to  me. 

"What  did  you  do  last  night  in  the  dining-room  at 
the  apartment?"  asked  D. 

"Played  the  'Merry  Widow  Waltz.'  " 

This  was  the  record  that  had  been  so  weirdly 
ground  out  by  the  phonograph. 

"And  what  was  the  book  you  took  from  the  shelf?" 

"French."  Then  she  murmured,  "Poor  Dick,  poor 
Dick!" 

"But  was  that  a  real  sob  of  yours  last  night?" 

"No;  that  was  just  for  Dick.  He  feels  that  way. 
I  am  not  unhappy." 

D.  had  now  seen  spirit  lights  four  times  during  our 
sittings,  but  I  had  seen  none.  I  suggested  to  Louise 


148         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

that  if  I  could  see  the  lights  and  actually  behold  a 
spirit,  I  might  be  able  to  write  much  more  convinc- 
ingly. She  turned  to  me  and  said  earnestly : 

"Daddy,  I  have  been  trying  so  hard  to  make  you 
see  something,  but  I  don't  think  you  have  psychic  eyes. 
Mother  has,  somewhat,  but  you  have  not." 

"Don't  you  like  writing  with  a  pencil?"  asked  D. 

"Yes,  but  it  is  hard — not  that  I  have  to  make  a  very 
great  effort  simply  to  write;  but  I  try  to  write  in 
my  own  hand  and  I  get  it  mixed  with  that  of  Isabel, 
whose  hand  is  on  the  pencil,  and  then  people  criti- 
cize and  think  she  is  actually  doing  the  writing. 

"I  like  to  come  back  this  way,"  she  continued.  "I 
know  it  makes  you  happy,  Mummy,  because  it  is  the 
nearest  representation  to  actuality  I  have  been  able 
to  make.  Not  many  spirits  have  such  a  chance.  By 
the  way,  you  must  never  awaken  Violet  while  she  is 
in  a  trance.  It  might  cost  her  reason.  She  could 
stay  in  a  trance  for  about  four  hours  without  the 
slightest  injury.  Spirits  like  to  enter  human  bodies 
whenever  they  can,  just  for  the  pleasure  of  it  and 
to  tell  what  they  have  done._  It  is  regarded  by  many 
of  them  as  a  real  feat." 

Then,  for  a  time,  her  father,  Morton,  took  pos- 
session of  Violet's  body  and  greeted  us  by  shaking 
hands.  The  voice  changed  and  the  handshake  was 
given  in  a  manner  that  D.  said  was  peculiar  to  him. 
He  soon  said  "Good-by,"  and  then  Louise  came  again, 
and  in  Violet's  body  caressed  and  fondled  her  mother, 
using  all  the  little  familiar  tricks  of  gesture  and  en- 
dearment they  alone  knew.  Her  presence  seemed  so 
real,  it  was  as  if  she  had  just  come  back  from  a  long 
absence  in  the  old  days.  It  made  her  mother  radi- 
antly happy. 


INTRODUCING  FRIENDS  OF  LOUISE    149 

The  following  night,  after  we  had  assembled  in 
the  "cabinet"  under  the  rafters,  the  table  went  through 
its  usual  performance  of  rising  to  the  ceiling.  Next 
it  went  up  and  waved  about  in  the  air. 

John  came  while  Violet  was  in  the  trance.  Louise 
said  it  was  he  who  was  directing  the  whole  series  of 
table-tippings  and  trances.  He  told  us  that  many 
persons  were  attempting  to  use  communication 
boards  but  without  great  success.  With  the  new 
board  he  thought  such  communication  would  be  much 
easier.  "However,"  he  added,  "very  few  mediums 
possess  power  of  the  same  degree  as  Violet's." 

In  New  York,  he  told  us,  many  circles  of  communi- 
cation had  been  started,  but  none  of  quite  the  same 
character  as  ours — that  is  to  say,  just  of  the  home 
and  immediate  family — and  there  was  absolutely  no 
other  anywhere  in  which  the  medium  did  not  know 
she  was  a  medium.  None  had  been  able  to  get  as  far 
as  we,  he  added.  Upon  his  arrival  John  had  shaken 
hands  with  us — a  very  strong  grasp.  He  said  his 
visit  was  occasioned  by  our  having  asked  for  him 
the  evening  before. 

Next,  Paul,  one  of  D.'s  guides,  came  for  a  short 
time.  He  said  that  John  was  the  spokesman  of  the 
group  operating  with  us,  and  he  himself  had  merely 
come  to  shake  our  hands. 

The  evening  of  August  15,  a  fierce  thunderstorm 
was  raging  when  we  took  our  seats  in  the  "cabinet," 
and  natural  conditions  seemed  at  their  best.  The 
table  went  to  the  ceiling,  dropped,  then  ascended  again 
a  few  feet  and  floated  in  the  air  from  side  to  side. 

D.  asked,  "Are  you  trying  to  imitate  a  cloud?" 

"Yes." 

Then  the  table  ascended  again  and  swung  about  in 


150         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

the  air  like  a  pendulum.  All  at  once,  while  our  hands 
were  still  upon  it,  it  jumped  through  the  air,  leaving 
us  and  landing  firmly  on  its  feet  on  top  of  a  little 
dressing  table  in  the  corner  of  the  room. 

Violet  and  D.  kept  seeing  the  lights  in  the  room,  but 
I  could  not  distinguish  them.  While  D.  saw  only  col- 
ored illuminations,  Violet  saw  forms. 

Louise  "arrived"  during  a  peal  of  thunder.  She 
shuddered  as  she  came  and  was  asked  why. 

"I  am  rather  frightened,"  she  replied.  "Ours  is  a 
land  of  sunshine  and  summer.  We  never  see  or  hear 
those  things.  Still,  electrical  storms  make  conditions 
good  for  communicating.  Now  I  have  to  go.  Others 
want  to  come." 

"Who?"  we  asked. 

"Father,  John,  Paul,  George  (my  guide),  and 
Kirk."  These  came  in  the  order  named. 

"Good  evening,"  said  Morton,  holding  out  his  hand. 
He  talked  only  about  Violet,  and  when  we  asked  for 
information  on  certain  points,  he  referred  us  to  John, 
shook  hands,  and  said,  "Good-night." 

"Good  evening,  D.  Good  evening,  Albert,"  said  a 
voice  much  deeper  than  Violet's. 

The  hand  of  each  of  us  was  clasped  very  firmly  in 
turn.  It  was  John,  who  after  some  moments'  con- 
versation gave  place  to  Paul,  one  of  D's  guides,  who 
said  to  her,  "Good  evening,  D.,"  and  shook  her 
hand.  He  would  not  answer  questions,  but  added, 
"You  may  get'me  through  the  communication  board 
any  evening.  I  will  not  hinder  you  now.  Good 
night,"  and  he  placed  both  hands  on  her  shoulders  in 
a  gesture  of  benediction. 

Next  came  George,  with  a  "Good  evening,  Albert," 
and  a  shake  of  the  hand.  "I  just  wanted  to  say 


hello  to  you.  Louise  occupies  the  board  so  much  we 
have  no  chance.  This  is  not  selfishness  on  her  part — 
just  love.  I  must  go.  Good-by." 

Then  I  saw  a  light,  the  first  I  had  seen,  on  D's  arm. 
It  was  oval  in  shape,  about  four  inches  long,  and 
slightly  less  than  three  inches  wide ;  an  opaque,  vapor- 
ish mass,  of  bluish  tinge.  I  asked  through  the  table  if 
I  had  actually  seen  the  light  and  the  reply  came,  "Yes." 

Then  Louise  came  back  into  Violet's  body.  After 
a  moment  she  said,  "That  light  was  I,  Daddy." 

Next  came  a  new-comer  who  announced  that  he 
was  Kirk,  one  of  our  son's  guides.  He  remained  but 
a  short  time. 

"Louise  wants  to  come  back,"  he  said.  "She  is 
pushing  me  away.  Good-night." 

Louise  came  long  enough  to  announce  herself,  but 
hurriedly  exclaimed,  "Oh,  I  have  got  to  go!" 

Then  an  extraordinary  thing  happened.  Violet's  body 
sat  upright  and  a  deep,  guttural  whisper  announced: 

"Me  Big  Chief!  Me  Muddy  Water!  Iroquois; 
Me  Iroquois.  Me  dance." 

Then  followed  violent  contortions,  movement  of 
shoulders,  legs  and  feet,  as  "Big  Chief"  danced  in  a 
sitting  posture. 

"What  can  we  do  for  you?"  we  asked. 

"Nothing!"  was  the  gruff  answer. 

"Are  you  having  fun?" 

"Yes." 

Suddenly  he  stopped. 

Then  Louise  came  back,  laughing  heartily. 

"He  wanted  to  dance,"  she  said. 

"Are  the  spirits  about  us  laughing?"  we  asked. 

"Yes.  The  room  is  so  full  of  them  it  is  impossible 
to  count  them." 


HOW  LEVITATION  IS  DONE 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HOW  LEVITATION  IS  DONE 

ON  Saturday  evening,  August  16,  levitation 
began  at  once.  Not  only  did  the  table  rise 
to  the  ceiling  but  it  turned  somersaults  in 
the  air. 

Having  in  mind  various  theories  which  scientists 
have  held  concerning  the  •methods  of  the  application 
of  psychical  force  in  the  levitation  of  a  table,  we  asked 
if  some  one  would  not  tell  us  actually  how  the  force 
was  used.  Promise  was  given  that  this  would  be 
revealed  later.  When  this  information  came  it  upset 
the  theories  we  had  read. 

Now  came  one  of  our  most  extraordinary  experi- 
ences in  levitation,  for  Ed,  one  of  our  son's  guides, 
a  sort  of  roistering  spirit,  fulfilled  a  promise — or 
threat — he  had  made  on  the  communication  board 
earlier  in  the  evening,  and  got  control  of  the  table, 
he  and  some  friends  of  a  kindred  disposition.  So 
fiercely  did  they  bang  the  table  about,  that  I  asked 
them  to  act  a  little  more  gently,  whereupon  the  table 
rose  in  the  air  several  times  in  succession  and  at- 
tempted to  hit  me  in  the  face.  It  was  almost  all  I 
could  do  to  hold  it  off.  This  sort  of  performance 
was  not  enjoyable.  I  turned  on  the  light.  The  table 
kept  demanding  darkness  and  I  switched  off  the  light 
again  upon  the  promise  of  the  operators  to  act  less 
rudely.  However,  they  did  not  regard  the  promise 

155 


156         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

and  started  after  me  the  second  time,  so  we  switched 
on  the  light  again  and  appealed  to  John  to  send  Ed  and 
his  uproarious  friends  about  their  business.  Finally, 
Louise  said  through  the  table  that  "John  had  driven 
Ed  and  his  friends  away." 

Violet  soon  saw  an  emerald  green  light  which  had 
become  one  of  the  signals  for  a  trance.  Louise  was 
long  in  coming,  however,  because,  as  she  explained, 
Violet's  figure  was  not  lying  straight. 

We  were  curious  as  to  how  Ed's  claim  to  being 
an  angel  harmonized  with  his  profanity,  for  during 
the  early  evening  he  had  used  on  the  board  certain 
emphatic  expressions  with  ease  that  betokened 
familiarity.  Louise  could  not  explain,  except  so  far 
as  to  say  that  Ed  considered  these  expressions  slang. 
She  said  he  had  picked  them  up,  apparently,  and  she 
also  told  us  that  Ed  and  his  friends  had  meant  us 
no  harm  with  the  table,  but  had  taken  our  protests  as 
signs  of  keen  enjoyment  on  our  part,  and  had  wanted 
to  give  us  more. 

Louise  then  explained  the  signals  for  the  trance. 

".When  Violet  sees  ten  red  lights  and  ten  blue,"  she 
said,  "or  one  green  light,  or  the  table  tips  at  T.,  or 
counts  twenty,  that  is  the  signal.  We  don't  want 
Violet  to  know,  and  for  that  reason  vary  the  signal  so 
that  she  would  not  be  likely  to  guess  because  of  a 
repetition.  John  will  tell  you  later  how  the  table  is 
lifted.  Some  one  else  is  coming  now." 

After  an  interval  Morton  shook  hands.  He  did  not 
seem  to  be  shocked  about  Ed.'s  picturesque  language. 
"He  uses  it  as  you  use  slang,"  he  said. 

I  asked  Morton  about  the  number  of  spirits  present. 

"The  house  is  filled,"  he  replied,  "and  the  lawn 
about  it  as  well.  There  are  easily  three  hundred 


HOW  LEVITATION  IS  DONE       157 

spirits  gathered  about  us.  You  know  they  can  see 
through  the  walls  of  a  house,  and  they  are  packed 
in  this  room  like  sardines." 

"But  why?"  we  asked. 

"This  circle  is  new  and  has  novel  features.  It  is 
a  home  and  family  circle,  and  deep  love  is  the  great 
impulse  on  both  sides;  besides  the  medium  is  abso- 
lutely unconscious  that  she  is  a  medium.  Good 
evening." 

John  came  with  the  usual  firm  hand  clasp,  and  we 
immediately  asked  him  about  the  method  employed  in 
levitation. 

"In  the  first  place,"  he  said,  "we  get  the  power 
mostly  from  the  medium;  though,  of  course,  not  all. 
We  take  a  little  from  both  of  you,  for  strength;  only 
that  power  is  not  of 'the  same  kind.  Yes,  it  is  some- 
thing akin  to  what  you  call  'vitality.'  We  use  that 
ourselves,  and  we  apply  that  force  to  the  table.  If 
only  two  spirits  manipulate  a  table,  one  will  push 
from  underneath,  and  the  other,  taking  hold  of  the 
table  at  two  corners  or  on  each  of  two  sides,  will 
lift.  We  can  easily  suspend  the  table  in  the  air  for 
several  minutes,  but  we  cannot  get  enough  power 
without  harming  you  all,  and  that  we  will  not  do. 
The  more  people  there  are  about  a  table,  the  more 
power  we  can  get.  To  raise  the  table  we  must  have 
contact  of  hands  with  the  table,  for  the  strength  we 
make  use  of  comes  from  human  beings.  We  actually 
take  hold  of  the  table  with  our  hands.  The  reason 
why  we  ask  you  to  sing  at  this  time  is  because  this 
produces  harmonious  vibration  of  the  atmosphere. 
Besides,  the  singing  of  old,  familiar  tunes  is  restful 
to  the  medium  and  makes  it  easier  for  us  to  do  our 
work.  Good-by." 


158         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

A  short  period  of  waiting,  and  then  a  tiny  voice 
whispered  : 

"Me  'Raindrop',  Mrs.  J's  guide.     Was  tiny  baby." 

We  had  been  told  before  that  "Raindrop"  had  died 
at  birth. 

"First  time  me  ever  knew  anything  in  body.  Me 
love  you,"  she  said  putting  her  arms  about  D.'s  neck. 
"Me  try  give  Indian  call."  (Pause).  "Don't  know,"" 
she  said  sadly.  "Can't.  Me  try."  Then  sounded 
clearly : 

"Hala-la-la-la-la ! — Me  lovey  you,"  she  said  to  D. 

Suddenly  she  stood  up  on  the  floor,  and  to  our 
amazement  did  a  little  dance  that  was  unmistakably 
Indian  in  character,  clapping  her  hands  rhythmically 
and  stepping  in  perfect  time.  Then  she  knelt  at  D.'s 
feet.  In  a  moment  Louise  was  back. 

The  next  night,  in  response  to  flattering  requests 
from  the  table,  we  had  about  exhausted  our  repertory 
of  old  songs  when  D.  asked  if  our  guests  wanted  the 
"Marseillaise."  Immediately  the  table  manifested 
signs  of  excitement.  It  jumped  about,  went  up  in  the 
air  and  struck  the  ceiling  three  times.  This  perform- 
ance was  repeated. 

As  we  sang,  it  kept  perfect  time,  marching  up  and 
down  the  floor,  and  at  the  "rat-a-tat-tat"  of  the  drum- 
beat that  follows  several  of  the  lines,  it  made  short, 
quick  raps  on  the  floor.  Then  it  limped  along,  mak- 
ing us  think  of  a  wounded  soldier  coming  home. 
Later  we  were  told  that  spirits  of  French  soldiers 
were  in  the  audience,  and  that  when  these  heard  their 
national  song,  they  insisted  upon  marching  the  table 
to  it. 

Next  came  a  series  of  remarkable  manifestations  to 
Violet,  who  was  not  at  this  time  fully  in  a  trance. 


HOW  LEVITATION  IS  DONE       159 

First  she  said  she  saw  a  picture  on  the  screen  opposite 
of  an  Indian  chief  in  full  war  paint  and  feathers, 
standing  in  a  muddy  stream  up  to  his  knees.  This  we 
took  to  be  a  representation  of  "Muddy  Water,"  the 
chief  who  had  come  to  us  the  night  before,  an  occur- 
rence of  which  she  was  quite  ignorant 

Then  she  saw  a  picture  of  Louise  dressed  in  white 
and  wearing  a  large  hat,  walking  down  a  side-walk 
with  Biddy  and  Chico,  one  on  either  side. 

Next  she  saw  the  ten  red  and  the  ten  blue  lights, 
and  soon  afterwards  Louise  came.  After  she  had 
greeted  us,  Louise  would  not  let  her  mother  touch  her 
for  a  time. 

"Just  sit  here  quietly  for  a  little  while,"  she  said; 
"then  you  will  see  what  will  happen." 

She  moved  away  from  her  mother. 

"In  a  little  while;  I  will  let  you  know  when  to 
touch  me,"  she  told  us. 

There  was  an  interval  of  several  minutes,  during 
which  we  could  distinguish  that  something  was  being 
done  but  not  exactly  what.  Finally  Louise  announced 
that  the  interval  of  waiting  was  over. 

We  asked  when  she  had  first  known  that  Violet  had 
power. 

"That  first  night  at  the  table,  when  she  saw  me.  I 
was  so  sorry  to  frighten  her." 

She  soon  went,  and  then  little  "Raindrop"  came 
again,  repeating  part  of  her  performance  of  the  pre- 
vious evening. 

Next  came  another  little  Indian  spirit  who  called 
herself  "Dewdrop."  She  apparently  was  delighted 
with  the  spring  couch,  for  she  spent  the  entire  time 
of  her  visit  jumping  up  and  down  upon  it  and  utter- 
ing exclamations  of  delight. 


160         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Then  came  "Sun  Flower,"  a  third  Indian.  We 
had  been  told  that  day  that  two  of  Violet's  guides, 
Mary  and  Isabella,  had  been  assigned  to  other  chil- 
dren, and  that  their  places  would  henceforth  be  filled 
by  "Dewdrop"  and  "Sun  Flower."  Sun  Flower's 
story  had  been  told  on  the  board.  It  was  that  she 
was  a  Delaware,  or  Leni  Lenape,  and  had  lived  five 
hundred  years  ago  on  the  banks  of  the  Patuxent 
River,  in  Maryland,  where  in  my  boyhood  I  had  often 
picked  up  tomahawks,  battle-axes  and  arrows,  and 
had  wondered  at  the  little  heaps  of  oyster  shells  in 
the  banks  which  a  visiting  archeologist  had  assured 
me  were  the  remains  of  Indian  feasts.  She  had 
loved  a  brave  named  "Red  Feather."  He  had  been 
killed  in  a  battle  when  she  was  just  twenty,  and  she 
said  she  had  died  of  "grief  and  monkshood,"  meaning 
that  she  had  taken  poison.  She  came  to  us  with  a 
sob. 

''We  Indians  love  you,"  she  said  to  D. 

Louise  returned  and  now  we  found  out  what  had 
happened  during  the  interval  when  she  would  not 
let  her  mother  touch  her,  for  Violet's  hair,  D.  discov- 
ered, was  now  done  in  two  long  braids.  Louise  said 
that  she  and  the  spirits  of  the  Indian  girls  had  taken 
down  Violet's  hair  and  braided  it. 

Just  before  she  went  into  the  full  trance  Violet  had 
told  us  that  some  one  had  opened  the  curtain  opposite. 
Louise  said  that  she  had  done  this  and  she  also  told 
us  that  she  had  written  on  the  table.  She  added: 
"While  you  were  talking  to  the  Indian  girls  I  went 
downstairs,  opened  a  drawer  of  the  desk,  took  out  a 
pencil  and  brought  it  up,  and  wrote  my  name  on  the 
top  of  the  little  table.  You  will  find  it  there.  Don't 
make  any  effort  to  verify  this  after  Violet  awakes 


HOW  LEVITATION  IS  DONE       161 

until  you  take  the  table  downstairs,  as  she  must  not 
know." 

"But  how  did  you  get  the  pencil  into  the  room 
with  the  door  closed  ?"  I  asked. 

She  laughed.  "Look  up  at  the  rafters.  Do  you 
see  those  holes  between  the  shingles  and  the  top  of 
the  wall?" 

"What  did  you  do  with  the  pencil?" 

"Look  for  it  when  you  go  downstairs.  Be  sure," 
she  said  earnestly,  "to  rub  my  name  off  the  table.  I 
don't  want  Violet  to  see  it." 

After  the  sitting  was  over  I  smuggled  the  table 
downstairs  and  into  my  bedroom.  Sure  enough,  on 
top  of  it  was  written  heavily  and  in  the  exact  style  of 
hand-writing  which  Louise  used  during  her  lifetime 
here,  the  name  "Louise,"  twice.  I  tried  to  rub  this 
out,  but  an  eraser  would  make  little  impression  on 
it  and  we  decided  that  it  had  been  written  with  an 
indelible  pencil  which  we  used  for  marking  plants  in 
the  garden.  We  could  not  find  the  pencil  anywhere. 
The  sequel  to  this  episode  came  some  nights  later. 

John  came  again  just  after  Louise  had  told  us  about 
writing  on  the  table.  He  said : 

"I  had  to  laugh  when  I  saw  what  she  was  doing 
to  Violet's  hair.  She  braided  the  left  side,  and  the 
Indians  did  the  other.  You  jvill  notice  that  they  did 
theirs  much  tighter,  and  higher  up."  Then  he  went 
on  to  tell  us  something  about  the  lights. 

"Most  of  those  you  see  are  not  we  ourselves,  but 
lights  we  make  by  using  a  force  from  the  body  of 
the  medium  and  properties  of  the  air  itself.  How- 
ever, we  occasionally  illuminate  ourselves,  and  then 
you  can  sometimes  see  us." 


162         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"Have  you  other  primary  colors  than  the  ones  we 
know?"  D.  asked. 

"Yes,  but  I  cannot  tell  you  what  they  are,  as  you 
would  not  understand  the  names  and  they  would 
mean  absolutely  nothing." 

"But  do  you  all  speak  the  same  language?"  pur- 
sued D. 

John  laughed.  "We  can  speak  your  language," 
he  said.  "Spirits  pick  up  human  languages  different 
from  the  language  they  spoke  on  earth  by  hearing 
them  spoken,  but  we  have  a  language  of  our  own — 
what  you  would  call  the  universal  language." 

After  John  came  Morton,  for  a  short  stay,  and  then 
again  came  "Muddy  Water,  Big  Chief,"  who  started 
in  by  clapping  his  hands  loudly  and  doing  an  Indian 
war  dance,  chanting  some  aboriginal  melody  the 
while  he  gyrated.  In  his  enthusiasm  he  suddenly 
slapped  D.  in  the  face.  This  ended  his  performance, 
and  then  Louise  came  back. 

Her  mother  felt  something  slipped  upon  her  nose 
and  found  that  a  hairpin  had  been  bent  into  a  pair 
of  "eye-glasses"  and  stuck  there.  The  two  had  a  lot 
of  fun  out  of  this,  for  it  was  like  one  of  Louise's  old 
tricks.  She  said  she  had  fashioned  the  device  from 
a  hairpin  which  had  served  to  hold  Violet's  hair  in 
place  before  it  was  taken  down  and  braided  by  her- 
self and  the  little  Indians. 


LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK 


CHAPTER  XVII 

LOUISE  TAKES  A   WALK 

THE  next  session  in  the  "cabinet,"  Monday  night, 
started  with  "Old  Kentucky  Home,"  sung  by 
request.     Our  son  consented  to  be  present  at 
the  session  but  declined  to  sit  at  the  table.    The  "Mar- 
seillaise" was  called  for,  and  the  table  marched  about 
and  banged  against  the  ceiling  and  kept  time  to  the 
"drum-beats,"  as  before. 

Then  another  French  song  was  demanded  and  we 
urged  our  son  to  sing  "Madelon,"  but  he  refused 
to  be  a  soloist.  The  soldiers'  spirits  said  that  they 
did  not  know  "Madelon,"  for  some,  they  told  us,  had 
been  killed  in  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne  and  all 
who  were  present  had  fallen  in  1914  or  1915.  Finally 
they  knocked  on  the  rafters  three  times  with  the  table 
and  then  threw  the  latter  into  a  corner. 

Violet  now  began  to  see  pictures.  First  she  saw 
"Sun  Flower"  and  then  "Dewdrop,"  her  new  Indian 
guides,  then  others.  I  began  to  discern  lights — once 
in  a  while  a  pin-point  of  faint  yellow,  but  mostly 
luminous  masses.  Occasionally  there  were  little  frag- 
ments that  looked  like  tiny  comets  with  tails.  Then 
Violet  said  she  saw  the  picture  of  a  young  man  with 
long,  curly  hair  dressed  in  a  long  robe.  When  asked 
if  he  were  "John,"  she  said  the  figure  nodded  its 
head. 

165 


166         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

Next  came  a  picture  of  Louise  dressed  as  she  had 
appeared  the  night  preceding,  and  then  followed  an- 
other of  her,  this  time  in  evening  dress.  Then  came 
the  big  emerald  light,  and  Violet  went  into  a  trance. 

Louise  "came"  immediately.  She  was  delighted 
that  her  brother  w£.s  present,  and  made  much  of  him. 
She  sat  beside  her  mother  and  called  him  over, 
and  playfully  bumped  their  heads  together.  In 
a  few  moments  she  changed  places  with  the  little 
Indian  spirit  who  had  identified  herself  as  "Dew- 
drop."  Dewdrop  gave  us  an  Indian  dance.  Then 
followed  Muddy  Water,  the  "Big  Chief."  He  did 
another  war  dance,  with  the  result  that  when  Louise 
came  again,  following  his  departure,  she  examined 
Violet's  dress  and  told  us  that  Muddy  Water,  in  his 
energetic  dancing,  had  ripped  it.  Violet  later  on 
made  the  discovery  of  the  damage  and  could  not 
explain  it.  "Sun  Flower"  came  a  few  minutes  later 
and  upon  D.'s  expressing  sympathy  with  her  because 
she  had  killed  herself,  as  she  said,  owing  to  the  death 
of  her  lover,  "Red  Feather,"  she  collapsed.  How- 
ever, in  a  moment  she  was  active  again  and  went  over 
and  paid  the  most  marked  attention  to  our  son.  In  a 
few  moments  she  asked  him  to  marry  her.  He  asked 
for  time  for  consideration,  but  she  said  a  priest  whom 
she  called  a  "Medicine  Man"  was  near,  and  she 
knocked  three  times  on  the  wall  for  him  to  come. 
A  moment  later  she  announced  that  the  ceremony  had 
been  performed;  so  that  apparently,  the  young  man 
was  saddled  with  a  spirit  bride ! 

We  asked  the  next  evening  that  the  sitting  be  lim- 
ited to  one  hour,  and  this  was  promised.  This  time 
Violet  said  she  could  see  one  of  the  spirit  forms  that 
were  levitating  the  table.  Just  then  we  heard  knock- 


LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK  167 

ing  on  the  front  door.  Our  son  was  in  the  back  of 
the  house,  writing,  at  the  time,  and  the  knocking  was 
repeated.  We  did  not  wish  to  be  interrupted,  and 
asked  the  table  if  we  should  go  down.  It  said,  "Yes," 
emphatically,  and  then  made  for  the  door  of  the  room 
and  banged  upon  it  three  times. 

Soon  after  the  callers  had  gone,  and  we  had  returned 
to  the  "cabinet,"  the  table  was  thrown  away  into  a 
corner.  We  recovered  it,  but  it  was  again  hurled 
away.  Then  followed  pictures  of  Dewdrop,  Rain- 
drop and  Sun  Flower,  seen  only  by  Violet,  and  then 
came  the  green  light. 

After  Louise  had  paid  a  short  visit,  John  signified 
his  presence  in  the  usual  way.  Sun  Flower  next 
came  and  called  for  our  son,  but  he  refused  to  answer 
the  summons.  Morton  happened  in  for  a  short  chat 
and  he  told  us  that  there  were  one  thousand  spirits 
inside  and  about  our  tiny  camp.  During  her  appear- 
ance, Louise  spoke  to  her  mother  of  being  "The 
Roughneck  of  the  Rockies,"  a  nickname  that  had 
been  bestowed  on  herself,  some  years  before  while 
she  and  her  mother  and  brother  were  spending  the 
summer  on  a  Montana  ranch.  Louise  was  such  a 
flower-like  creature  that  the  cowboys  had  taken  de- 
light in  this  nickname. 

While  she  was  still  on  the  couch  and  we  were  ex- 
pecting Violet  to  come  back,  I  got  out  the  table,  pre- 
paring to  greet  the  latter  in  the  usual  way,  put  my 
hands  on  it  and  began  "faking"  tips.  I  suggested 
that  D.  place  her  hands  on  the  table  as  well,  and  we 
would  see  if  we  could  really  make  it  ascend  without 
Violet's  help.  There  was  a  whisper  in  Louise's  voice, 
"Persevere."  Then  before  we  could  distinguish  her 


i68         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

movement,  she  had  sprung  to  the  table,  put  her  hands 
under  it  and  lifted  it  high. 

"I  just  wanted  to  show  you  how  we  elevate  the 
table.  The  other  spirit  operating  with  me  grasps  the 
sides  of  the  table  and  pulls  it  up  while  I  push  from 
below,"  she  explained. 

We  had  intended  not  holding  a  sitting  Wednesday 
evening.  While  the  general  effect  of  these  sessions 
was  good — soothing,  in  a  measure,  to  us  all — never- 
theless they  involved  a  certain  sort  of  strain,  and  we 
felt  it  best  that  Violet  should  have  a  rest  for  one 
evening.  We  had  been  told  that  no  matter  whether 
she  was  in  the  cabinet  or  downstairs,  Violet  would 
go  to  sleep  at  dark,  but  this  evening  we  thought  we 
would  keep  her  awake.  The  appearance  of  the  In- 
dians, while  interesting  when  novel,  had  become  to 
me,  at  least,  monotonous  upon  repetition.  We  wanted 
to  talk  with  Louise,  and  we  thought  she  was  rather 
generous  in  giving  up  her  place  so  frequently.  Violet 
herself  said  that  she  did  not  wish  to  tip  table,  and 
began  to  read  a  book. 

But  when  nine  o'clock  came  she  announced  that 
she  was  sleepy,  closed  her  book  and  cuddled  herself 
up  in  a  big  wicker  chair.  After  a  short  interval  she 
got  up  and  said  she  was  going  upstairs  to  her  room, 
and  would  not  be  dissuaded.  D.  followed  her,  be- 
cause we  wished  to  keep  her  awake;  but  when  the 
child  reached  her  room,  she  threw  herself  upon  the 
bed,  opened  her  book  and  began  to  read,  refusing  to 
undress.  After  a  few  moments  I  heard  a  sound 
which  indicated  that  she  had  turned  out  the  light. 
Just  then,  Rex,  the  big  Russian  wolfhound  who  has 
figured  before  in  this  narrative,  appeared  outside  the 
screened  porch  and  went  through  the  same  kind  of 


LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK  169 

howling  as  on  the  night  when  he  had  startled  us  by 
his  strange  behavior.  I  hurried  upstairs  to  Violet's 
bedside,  and  turned  on  the  light.  Her  figure  was 
lying  with  the  face  turned  away. 

Louise's  voice  said,  "Don't  do  that,  Daddy.  Please 
turn  off  the  light."  I  did  so  and  called  D.  I  may 
add  here  that  whenever  we  used  the  cabinet  without 
a  red  light,  the  window  curtain  was  always  left  up, 
so  that  a  certain  amount  of  light  came  in  from  out- 
doors. 

Her  mother  protested  to  Louise  against  this  sitting 
and  urged  that  it  be  put  off  until  the  next  night,  but 
Louise  insisted  it  could  not  now  be  postponed. 

"But  I  have  been  worried,"  said  the  mother,  "be- 
cause your  behavior  the  other  night  when  your  brother 
was  here  did  not  seem  like  you  at  all.  It  was  as  if 
you  were  very  childish." 

Sobs  were  the  answer.     After  a  time  Louise  said: 

"That  was  due  to  my  delight  in  being  able  to  speak 
to  Brother.  I  was  really  a  child  again,  because,  as 
you  know,  we  were  very  close  when  we  were  both 
children." 

On  being  comforted,  she  continued:  "I  want  to 
tell  you,  Mummy  and  Daddy,  that  we  have  had  a  sort 
of  conference  in  which  your  thoughts  took  part.  We 
know  that  you  have  felt  some  worry  and  we  have  come 
to  the  decision  that  when  Violet  ends  her  visit  we 
shall  take  away  her  power ;  at  least,  most  of  it.  When 
she  leaves  you,  she  will  be  unable  to  communicate 
with  us  except  through  our  communication  board  or 
by  automatic  writing.  She  will  be  unable  to  go  into 
a  trance.  This  we  are  able  to  solemnly  promise  you." 

Our  relief  was  great.  Louise  said  she  would  not 
continue  the  sitting  long,  but  there  were  one  or  two 


iyo         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

little  things  she  wished  to  do.  First  I  must  turn  out 
all  the  lights  in  the  house.  This  I  did,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  light  in  her  brother's  room  on  the 
ground  floor,  though  I  closed  his  door.  Then  she  said : 

"I  am  going  downstairs;  and  so  that  Violet  will 
not  know  anything  of  this  when  she  awakes,  she  will 
find  herself  sitting  in  the  chair  downstairs  reading, 
'At  Sunwich  Port.' 

"Daddy,  have  you  found  the  pencil  with  which  I 
wrote  on  the  table  the  other  night?"  she  asked. 

I  confessed  I  had  been  unable  to  do  so.  She 
laughed  gleefully. 

"Then  I  will  find  it  for  you,"  she  said.  She  went 
downstairs,  with  us  following,  entered  her  mother's 
room,  rummaged  around  among  some  books  for  a 
few  moments,  and  came  back  holding  what  we  im- 
mediately recognized  as  our  indelible  pencil.  Next 
she  sat  in  the  chair  and  was  about  to  assume  the  posi- 
tion Violet  had  held  when  she  went  to  sleep,  but,  in- 
stead, got  up,  went  to  the  door  of  her  brother's  room 
and  knocked. 

"Turn  out  the  light,"  she  said. 

He  was  slow  about  doing  this,  and  she  repeated  her 
request  and  we  echoed  it.  She  then  opened  the  door, 
went  in,  embraced  him  and  led  him  out  to  the  porch, 
where  for  a  few  minutes  it  seemed  as  if  we  were 
taking  part  in  a  real  family  reunion. 

"Let's  take  a  walk,"  she  said  to  her  brother. 

He  insisted  that  we  all  go,  so  she  stepped  out  on 
the  stone  flagging,  at  the  end  of  which  was  our  old 
"flivver."  In  this  she  had  taken  many  a  ride  before 
she  left  for  the  West.  She  greeted  it  with  delight, 
and  jumping  in  upon  the  front  seat,  took  the  wheel 


LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK  171 

and  pretended  she  was  driving.  Then  she  gave  a 
little  shout  and  jumped  out. 

"Ran  over  a  man!"  she  exclaimed.  "Afraid  I've 
killed  him."  Then  she  clung  to  her  brother  as  if  she 
were  crying  over  the  accident. 

"I  want  to  see  the  rock  garden,"  she  announced, 
after  a  moment,  and  started  down  the  drive  to  the 
main  road.  The  rest  of  us  followed.  A  little  way 
on,  she  demanded  of  her  brother  that  they  dance,  and 
they  did  a  fox  trot,  she  going  through  the  steps  with 
a  grace  that  was  peculiar  to  Louise.  Little  Violet,  I 
might  add,  did  not  know  this  dance. 

There  were  lots  of  big  ruts  in  the  road,  and  she 
picked  her  way  carefully,  pretending  to  hold  up  Isa- 
bel's short  skirts,  and  telling  us  to  follow.  Her  eyes, 
we  noticed,  were  closed.  "Can  you  see?"  I  asked. 

"Perfectly,"  she  replied. 

At  the  main  entrance  to  our  place,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  from  the  entrance  to  the  camp, 
she  stopped  and  turned  toward  the  house  on  the  hill 
and  raised  both  arms. 

"Our  house,"  she  said.  "I  must  see  the  rock  gar- 
den," she  continued,  and  started  across  the  lawn  to 
the  right.  But  we  explained  to  her  that  the  rock 
garden  had  been  neglected  all  summer  and  was  no 
longer  the  beautiful  spot  it  had  been  in  the  spring 
when  our  tenants  took  possession.  It  was  overgrown 
with  almost  every  imaginable  sort  of  weed  and  its 
appearance  reminded  me  of  a  neglected  grave  yard. 
She  went  forward  a  step  or  two,  then  turned  away 
with  a  shudder. 

Suddenly  she  broke  away  from  us  and  turned  to 
run  up  the  drive  to  the  house.  I  stopped  her,  ex- 
plaining that  the  tenants  were  there,  and  would  not 


172          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

understand.  She  cast  a  long  look  over  the  whole 
place,  shook  her  head  and  came  back  sadly;  but  in  a 
second  she  was  all  gayety  again,  and  the  queer  group 
of  us  started  back  for  the  camp. 

"This  is  an  imitation  of  Robert,"  she  said,  and 
began  to  do  a  peculiar  sort  of  double-shuffle  walk  in 
the  road,  which  we  all  recognized  as  a  favorite  step 
of  our  friend  Robert's.  Violet  had  never  seen  Robert 
do  this. 

It  so  happened  that  while  D.  was  in  Stamford  that 
morning,  a  stout  person  in  a  big,  expensive  automo- 
bile had  crashed  into  the  rear  of  our  humble  "flivver" 
in  a  narrow  street,  and  broken  the  lamp  bracket. 

Louise  stopped  at  the  rear  of  the  car,  appeared  to 
examine  it,  and  then  said,  laughing,  "Bumped  in  the 
rear  by  Fatty  Arbuckle!"  She  had  said  the  same 
thing  in  the  afternoon  on  the  communication  board 
when  D.  had  asked  her  if  she  had  seen  anything  un- 
usual happen  to  her  mother  while  in  Stamford. 

She  gave  us  another  imitation  of  driving  the  "fliv- 
ver," and  was  then  willing  to  go  back  to  the  porch, 
where  she  settled  herself  in  the  big  arm  chair  in  which 
Violet  had  gone  to  sleep,  and  in  the  identical  position. 

"Now  you  may  turn  on  the  light,"  she  said. 

We  did  so,  and  in  less  than  a  minute  Isabel  her- 
self was  back,  rubbing  her  eyes;  and,  as  predicted  by 
Louise,  she  took  up  her  book  and  fell  to  reading 
again,  totally  unconscious  of  her  hour  and  a  half  of 
oblivion. 

The  evening  of  August  21,  Mr.  K.  and  Mile.  A.,  a 
French  friend  of  ours,  and  particularly  of  Louise's, 
were  with  us  in  the  apartment  in  town.  The  table 
levitated  so  violently,  banging  on  the  bare  floor 
when  Mile.  A.  sang  the  "Marseillaise,"  that  the  people 


LOUISE  TAKES  A  WALK  173 

in  the  apartment  below  immediately  complained  by 
telephone.  A  rug  was  put  down  and  the  table  became 
less  demonstrative. 

Violet  first  saw  a  succession  of  the  pictures  and 
then  after  a  short  interval  came  twenty  tips  of  the 
table  and  the  emerald  lights,  and  immediately  after- 
ward, Louise.  She  said  there  were  five  thousand 
spirits  gathered  together  in  the  apartment,  and  near 
by,  forming  an  enormous  audience.  It  was  difficult, 
of  course,  to  comprehend  this.  "Julius,"  she  said, 
was  an  interested  spectator,  and  she  indicated  a  spot 
back  of  Mr.  K.  where  she  said  he  was  standing.  She 
told  that  at  first  it  was  the  intention  of  the  operators 
on  the  other  side  to  show  us  all  spirit  lights,  but  the 
evening  was  so  oppressive  we  had  to  keep  a  door  of 
the  room  open,  and  the  program  was  changed. 

Now,  Violet  had  been  unable  to  pronounce  the 
names  of  our  guests,  but  Louise  greeted  both  by 
name,  and  with  the  handshake  that  had  been  her  own. 
She  said  she  wanted  to  go  to  the  "laboratory"  and 
work  there.  We  followed  her,  and  she  actually  went 
busily  through  certain  processes  quite  as  efficiently 
as  if  the  room  had  been  illuminated  and  her  eyes  open. 
She  even  found  a  bottle  of  perfume  which  she  herself 
had  made  and  had  named  "Lirosa."  Violet  knew 
nothing  about  this,  but  Louise  said,  "My  perfume," 
and  called  its  name.  Apparently  she  was  in  a  rather 
mischievous  humor,  for  when  she  returned  to  the 
dressing-room  she  found  some  theatrical  make-up,  and 
after  applying  it  to  our  faces,  said  we  were  "sights." 

Then  came  in  turn  various  Indian  spirits,  and 
finally,  Muddy  Water.  We  insisted  that  Muddy 
Water  should  not  dance  and  he  did  not  stay  long. 


174          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

John  afterwards  appeared,  followed  by  Morton. 
Next  Louise  came  back  and  insisted  that  we  wash  the 
make-up  off  our  faces  before  Violet  awoke.  As  usual, 
the  latter  knew  nothing  when  she  came  to  herself  of 
what  had  happened. 


SPIRIT  AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

SPIRIT  AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS 

WE  were  inclined  to  demur  at  the  idea  of  sitting 
the   following  evening;  both  D.  and  Violet 
had  severe  colds  and  we  feared  that  a  seance 
would  do  neither  any  good.     But  Louise,  on  the  com- 
munication board,  was  insistent,  promising  that  the 
session  would  be  short,  and  that  it  would  do  good 
rather  than  harm.     She  said  she  had  something  im- 
portant to  say. 

This,  it  developed,  was  in  the  nature  of  a  confes- 
sion; for  Violet's  cold  had  been  caught  two  nights 
before  when  Louise,  inhabiting  her  body,  had  gone 
out  of  the  house  and  delighted  us  with  her  playful 
antics  on  the  way  to  the  rock  garden  and  back. 
Louise  sobbed  as  she  made  the  confession,  and  was 
comforted  with  difficulty. 

Morton  came  after  a  few  minutes  and,  of  course, 
John.  The  spirits  kept  their  word  and  the  session 
was  short. 

We  had  planned  to  take  Saturday  night  off  with  the 
full  approval  of  our  friends  on  the  other  plane.  It 
was  our  understanding  that  a  vaudeville  entertain- 
ment had  been  scheduled  to  take  place  at  the  Country 
Club,  to  be  followed  by  a  dance,  and  Violet  had 
never  been  to  a  grown  folks'  party.  Besides,  the  child 
had  not  been  to  even  a  children's  party  since  her 
fifth  birthday.  Then,  too,  Laurette,  a  friend  of 
ours  who  had  been  doing  Y.M.C.A.  work  in  France, 

177 


178          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

was  with  us  for  a  few  days,  and  neither  D.  nor  I 
had  been  where  there  was  gayety  during  the  entire 
summer.  Our  counselors  agreed  with  us  that  we  all 
needed  a  change,  and  were  satisfied  that  the  regular 
nightly  session  should  be  put  off  until  Sunday  after- 
noon, when  there  was  to  be  a  short  sitting,  followed 
by  a  longer  one  in  the  evening. 

We  started  off  gayly  enough  for  the  Country  Club, 
but  found,  when  we  arrived,  that  we  had  anticipated 
the  entertainment  by  one  week.  Violet  must  not  lose 
her  party,  however,  and  we  drove  on  to  the  old  Yacht 
Club,  so  much  associated  with  memories  of  Louise. 
Here  D.  found  these  memories  made  it  impossible  for 
her  to  enter  into  the  gayety,  and  after  Violet  and 
Laurette  had  had  a  dance  or  two,  we  made  our  way  to 
the  Inn  at  Greenwich.  Here  Violet  had  what  she  said 
was  a  wonderful  time,  and  during  intermissions  she 
and  D.  talked  with  Louise  with  a  match,  which  an- 
swered questions  just  as  a  communication  boardwould. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  we  early  disproved 
the  theory  held  by  some  that  the  use  of  a  certain  kind 
of  wood  or  even  wood  of  any  kind,  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  communicating;  for  we  have  used  wooden 
boxes,  paper  boxes,  pencils,  matches,  a  cigarette  box, 
a  heavy  silver  knife  and  a  fork,  a  tumbler,  and  even  a 
fairly  heavy  plate  in  communicating  with  Louise,  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  any  kind  of  light  object  may  be 
employed,  if  the  medium  has  unusual  power.  We 
have  even  used  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  many  a  time 
D.  and  Violet  spent  much  of  the  journey  to  New  York 
and  back  talking  with  Louise  by  whatsoever  means 
was  at  hand. 

Sunday  was  a  heavy,  oppressive  day.  Not  a  leaf 
was  stirring  and  the  idea  of  carrying  out  our  bargain 


AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS     179 

caused  us  dismay.  Finally,  however,  we  darkened 
the  "cabinet"  by  hanging  a  steamer  rug  over  the  win- 
dow. This  rug  was  well  worn,  and  rays  of  light 
came  through.  The  table  insisted  that  we  hang  some- 
thing over  the  rug  and  later  on  it  was  explained  that 
absolute  darkness,  while  not  essential  for  tipping  the 
table  or  for  other  things  that  we  had  seen,  was  neces- 
sary for  levitation,  except  when  a  fairly  large  number 
of  persons  formed  the  circle  about  the  table  or  when 
a  red  light  was  in  use. 

Laurette,  it  so  happened,  knew  the  words  of  the 
"Marseillaise,"  and  sang  the  martial  song  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  noisy  demonstrations  from  the  table, 
which  we  were  informed  came  from  our  friends,  the 
"Poilus." 

Louise  lay  down  during  most  of  her  talk.  Several 
times  she  drew  aside  the  curtain  and  showed  us,  in 
the  daylight,  the  face  of  Violet,  with  eyes  closed. 
John  came,  and  Morton,  and  the  latter  announced  the 
coming  of  one  who  had  not  yet  greeted  us.  This 
proved  to  be  Agatha,  Violet's  mother.  Louise,  when 
she  came  back,  found  she  had  accidentally  torn  the 
lace  on  Violet's  petticoat,  and  was  very  contrite.  D. 
promised  to  mend  it,  but  when  Isabel  discovered  it 
later  on,  she  blamed  her  own  carelessness. 

The  room  was  like  a  Turkish  bath,  and  this  the 
spirits  found  out  and  complained  of  as  soon  as  they 
had  entered  human  flesh;  for,  as  we  were  told,  while 
they  are  in  the  flesh  they  experience  all  the  feeling  of 
flesh,  so  that  at  the  end  of  an  hour  they  were  as  willing 
as  we  that  the  seance  should  come  to  an  end,  and  we 
resorted  to  the  communication  board. 

We  had  been  told  the  names  of  Laurette's  guides, 
and  she  was  very  anxious  to  communicate  with  her 


i8o         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

mother.  We  had  made  this  request  before  going  up- 
stairs and  Louise  herself  had  promised  that  the  op- 
portunity would  be  given. 

Sure  enough,  soon  after  we  had  taken  our  seats  on 
the  porch,  the  announcement  was  made  on  the  board 
that  Laurette's  mother  was  present.  We  were  ad- 
vised, however,  not  to  keep  her  long,  as  she  was  prob- 
ably very  weak  in  power,  this  being  her  first  experi- 
ence with  the  board.  None  of  the  rest  of  us  knew  the 
name  of  Laurette's  mother  and  when  the  board  spelled 
out  the  unusual  word,  "Frona,"  we  were  puzzled. 

"That  was  really  my  mother's  name,"  said  Laurette. 

In  answer  to  our  questions  for  facts,  the  com- 
munication board  told  us  that  Laurette's  mother  had 
died  twenty  years  ago,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven. 
Both  of  these  statements  were  verified  by  the  daughter. 
Her  mother  gave  her  through  the  board  some  very 
sensible  advice  upon  certain  matters  which  a  girl  likes 
to  refer  to  a  mother.  Then  came  various  visitors — 
Agatha  and  Morton,  and  John  and  the  Indians.  This 
was  Agatha's  first  appearance  on  the  board. 

That  night,  Sunday,  as  we  had  come  to  expect,  the 
"Poilus"  present  demanded  the  "Marseillaise,"  and 
Laurette  sang  it  again.  They  marched  through  it 
with  the  table,  imitating  the  little  rat-a-tat-tats  of  the 
drum,  of  course,  and  when  the  song  was  finished  kept 
on  with  "drum  beats."  We  asked  if  they  liked  hear- 
ing the  song  rendered  correctly,  and  the  table  rose  and 
struck  the  rafters  three  times.  Then  our  visitors  de- 
manded "Madelon,"  but  Laurette  could  not  remember 
the  words  and  they  had  to  be  content  with  a  repetition 
of  some  of  our  "old  timers." 

Next  came  a  new  signal  for  the  trance.  Violet 
said  that  she  saw  Louise  dressed  in  green,  wearing  a 


AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS    181 

green  hat,  and  carrying  an  armful  of  ferns.  The  lat- 
ter suddenly  changed  into  a  green  illumination.  In  a 
few  seconds  the  trance  began. 

Louise  told  us  that  hereafter  when  Violet  mentioned 
seeing  anything  green  at  these  sittings,  that  would  be 
the  trance  signal. 

Following  a  reportorial  habit  of  wanting  to  know 
"those  present,"  I  asked  about  the  audience. 

There  was  a  pause  before  Louise  said :  "As  near  as 
I  can  guess,  there  are  about  three  hundred  in  this 
room  and  the  number  in  the  rest  of  the  house  and 
outside  is  approximately  five  thousand.  You  see, 
only  those  who  are  connected  with  us  by  blood,  and 
other  relations,  or  the  guides  of  your  friends  who  have 
been  here  before,  are  admitted  to  the  room  itself. 
You  might  say  these  have  'reserved  seats.'  It  is  just 
a  big  show." 

"How  are  the  others  arranged?" 

"Well  I  might  picture  it  by  saying,  'elevated,  sur- 
face and  subway.'  You  will  have  noticed  that  I  am 
always  the  first  and  the  last  to  come.  That  is  my 
privilege  because  this  is  my  home  and  my  family. 
Yes,"  she  said  in  answer  to  a  question,  "Julius  is  here, 
and  so  are  Gordon  and  Austin." 

She  got  up  and  went  to  the  window  and  raised  the 
curtain.  A  thunder  storm  was  raging  and  the  room 
was  lit  up  by  occasional  flashes. 

"The  light  will  not  interfere,  "  she  assured  us.  "It 
is  only  when  we  are  trying  to  levitate  that  we  require 
absolute  darkness,  and  then  only  because  there  are 
so  few  of  you." 

She  took  up  the  table  and  placed  it  in  the  center  of 
the  room,  all  the  time  keeping  up  a  merry  little  con- 
versation with  her  mother.  We  had  several  times 


l82         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

remarked  that  she  always  used  the  broad  "a,"  as  in 
life,  whereas  Violet  used  the  flat  sound  of  the  letter. 

This  Louise  gleefully  admitted.  She  was  in  a  very 
lively  humor.  Having  placed  the  table,  she  sat  on  it. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this  for  a  pose?"  she  asked 
after  a  moment. 

"What  is  it?"  we  asked. 

"The  Thinker,"  she  replied. 

She  had  actually  assumed  the  pose  of  Rodin's 
famous  "Le  Penseur."  Then  again: 

"Venus  at  the  Bath,"  she  announced.  She  assumed 
in  turn  the  poses  of  several  statues  that  had  been 
familiar  to  her  and  her  mother  and  myself  either  at 
the  Louvre,  or  the  Luxembourg,  or  in  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art.  Violet,  of  course,  knew  nothing  of 
these. 

Henriette's  husband,  Philippe,  had  been  her  guest 
that  day  and  Henriette  had  decided  to  accompany  him 
to  the  train.  We  heard  the  banging  of  the  screen 
door  downstairs  that  betokened  that  they  were  on 
their  way.  Louise  stepped  to  the  window  and  looked 
out.  She  laughed  heartily,  "Love  is  the  worst  disease 
on  earth,"  she  said.  "Look ;  each  has  an  arm  around 
the  other." 

We  could  not  see  them,  but  Henriette  afterward 
acknowledged  the  impeachment. 

"But  you  don't  really  mean  what  you  said  about 
love,"  her  mother  protested  to  Louise. 

"No,  I  was  joking.  Love  is  the  force  that  has 
made  all  this  possible.  See,  Mummy,"  she  con- 
tinued, "I  am  going  to  do  a  wood  nymph's  dance  for 
you." 

The  table  was  pushed  back  and  she  did  a  very 
beautiful  dance. 


AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS    183 

"You  didn't  learn  that  on  earth,"  observed  her 
mother. 

"No,  I  have  learned  this  since  I  left  earth.  Do  you 
wish  me  to  give  you  another  pose?"  she  inquired. 

"Suppose  you  try  the  'Dying  Gladiator/  "  suggested 
her  mother.  The  atmosphere  changed  at  once. 

"That  is  something  I  never  think  of,"  said  Louise. 
"All  my  life  is  sweet  and  happy  now,  and  I  do  not 
like  to  think  of  anything  that  suggests  sorrow." 

Then  she  lay  on  the  bed  and  demanded  before  we 
go  further  that  her  mother  give  Laurette  an  account 
of  all  that  had  taken  place.  For  more  than  one-half 
hour  this  continued,  Louise  prompting  continually, 
and  correcting  whenever  the  details  were  not  ac- 
curately given.  We  found  this  necessary  whenever 
we  admitted  a  friend  into  our  family  "circle"  for 
the  first  time.  Either  Louise  or  John  would  insist 
that  everything  be  explained  to  the  visitor  in  order 
to  assist  to  a  comprehension  of  what  was  going  to 
happen. 

Next  Morton  came.  He  sat  up  and  asked  for  a 
cigarette.  We  protested  that  it  would  do  Violet  no 
good,  and  that  she  would  detect  the  taste  when  she 
awoke. 

"Don't  worry,"  he  replied,  "it  will  do  her  no  harm 
and  she  will  know  nothing  about  it.  The  taste  will 
be  gone.  Why,  I  haven't  smoked  since  I  died.  We 
don't  have  tobacco  in  the  spirit  plane,  and  every  time 
I  have  come  back  into  flesh,  I  have  simply  craved  a 
cigarette." 

Of  course,  there  were  no  cigarettes  in  the  cabinet, 
so  he  insisted  that  I  go  downstairs  and  fetch  one.  I 
brought  up  the  box  and  handed  it  to  him.  He  selected 
a  cigarette,  tapped  it  on  the  box,  laid  the  latter  down, 


184         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

and  asked  for  a  light.  I  struck  a  match  for  him  and 
he  smoked  the  cigarette  with  every  indication  of  the 
deepest  enjoyment.  He  put  one  foot  over  the  other 
knee  and  clasped  his  ankle,  assuming  what  he  said 
was  a  "characteristic  pose." 

"If  we  only  had  a  few  empties  standing  around," 
he  said,  "that  would  remind  me  of  old  times."  We 
changed  the  subject. 

Next  came  John. 

I  have  several  times  remarked  the  strong  hand-clasp 
that  was  always  characteristic  of  John.  Each  of  our 
visitors  from  the  other  worlid  shook  hands  in  a  dif- 
ferent way,  just  as  there  are  differences  in  handshak- 
ing on  earth.  John  announced  that  a  decision  had 
been  reached  at  a  council  of  our  friends  from  the 
other  plane,  that  Violet  should  be  told  about  the  extent 
of  her  mediumistic  power. 

"This  power,"  he  assured  us,  "we  will  take  away 
when  she  leaves  you.  If  her  grandmother  is  anxious 
to  see  the  table  tipped,  Violet  may  be  permitted  to  do 
that,  but  with  that  exception  she  will  be  able  only 
to  use  a  communication  board  and  do  automatic  writ- 
ing. The  rest  of  her  power  will  be  entirely  taken 
away. 

"We  have  decided  that  you  may  use  Violet's  real 
name  in  the  book.  It  will  do  no  harm,  and  besides  her 
story  means  a  strong  feature  of  human  interest.  You 
need  not  use  any  last  names,  and  there  are  thousands 
of  the  same  name  in  this  country,  especially  in  that  part 
of  it  in  which  she  lives."  However,  we  later  decided 
otherwise. 

Morton  came  again.  It  was  to  emphasize  what 
John  had  said  with  regard  to  the  use  of  Violet's  name 
in  the  book. 


AUDIENCES  AND  PERFORMERS    185 

Next  came  Agatha,  Violet's  mother. 

"I  just  wanted  to  look  in,"  she  said  to  D.  "I  am 
Isabel's  first  mother;  you  are  her  second.  I  have  no 
advice  to  give,  but  wanted  to  see  you  and  talk  with 
you.  It  is  just  purely  my  woman's  point  of  view," 
she  said  with  a  laugh.  Then  she  recalled  that  she 
had  seen  D.  only  once,  and  that  was  at  Linwood,  a 
summer  resort  near  D.'s  former  home.  Afterwards 
D.  remembered  that  she  had  seen  Agatha  only  once, 
and  that  was  at  Linwood,  seventeen  years  before, 
after  some  one  directed  her  attention  to  her  former 
husband's  second  wife,  and  she  had  turned  to  find 
Agatha  regarding  her. 

Next  came  Sun  Flower  and  then  Dewdrop,  and 
next  Raindrop,  who  danced  a  very  pretty  little  dance 
for  us. 

"You  don't  like  me,"  she  said  to  me  reproachfully. 
"I  heard  you  tell  John  so." 

"But  I  do  like  you,"  I  returned.  "I  have  learned 
to  like  you." 

She  came  over  and  kissed  me. 

Next  came  Muddy  Water,  whom  Louise  had  de- 
scribed as  a  handsome  young  brave,  apparently  about 
twenty-seven  years  old.  Muddy  Water  got  up  and 
gave  a  war  dance  in  realistically  Indian  style. 

Then  Morton  came  again  for  a  few  moments,  and 
after  him  we  heard  a  voice  saying: 

"Me  little  'Weeze.'  "  It  was  Louise  announcing 
herself  in  the  fashion  affected  by  our  Indian  visitors. 
"Weeze"  was  one  of  her  pet  names. 

I  might  note  here  that  one  evening  we  joked  with 
one  of  the  Indian  girls  about  her  using  imperfect  Eng- 
lish. 

"I  can  speak  just  as  good  English  as  you,"  she  re- 


s 


i86         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

torted.  "If  I  were  to  say,  'I  am  Sun  Flower/  to  your 
human  mind  it  might  lack  reality.  And  so  I  say, 
'Me,  Sun  Flower,'  because  you  have  grown  accus- 
tomed to  thinking  that  it  is  the  way  an  Indian  should 
speak." 

"Isn't  Violet  tired?"  we  asked  Louise.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  very  amusing  exhibition. 

"Wait;  I  will  ask  her,"  said  Louise.  "I  will  talk 
through  her  and  get  an  answer  in  her  own  voice." 

As  this  time  Violet  was  lying  on  the  bed.  Louise 
asked  in  her  own  voice,  "Are  you  tired,  Violet?"  The 
answer  was  a  grunt  and  a  kicking  of  the  feet. 

"I  can  do  better,"  said  Louise.     "Wait  a  minute." 

Then  she  asked  again,  "Are  you  tired,  Violet?" 

Violent  contortions  of  Violet's  figure  followed,  and 
a  sleepy  voice  replied,  in  Violet's  own  accents,  "Leave 
me  alone,"  and  then :  "I  don't  want  to  get  up." 

"But  how  did  you  do  that?"  asked  D. 

The  reply  came  with  a  merry  laugh,  "I  shook  her 
inside." 

"How  do  you  get  into  her  body  ?"  we  asked. 

"You  think  here  that  spirits  walk  through  closed 
doors.  Well,  we  spirits  enter  the  body  through  open 
doors.  No,  not  the  mouth  or  the  nose,"  she  replied 
in  answer  to  a  question;  "spirits  actually  go  through 
the  skin.  You  will  have  to  wait  until  you  come  over 
before  you  really  understand.  Violet's  own  spirit  is 
here  listening  with  the  other  spirits.  She  won't  know 
anything  about  this,  of  course,  when  she  awakes. 
Now  you  get  ready.  She  is  coming  back."  So  we 
drew  up  the  table  and  were  tipping  it,  when,  after 
a  short  interval,  Violet  came  back  to  herself,  sat  up 
and  sleepily  demanded,  whether  "that  old  table  hadn't 
moved  yet !" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SPIRITS  AND  HUMAN  NATURE 

AUGUST  25  was  the  day  we  had  set  for  Violet 
to  be  told.  When  I  went  home  in  the  evening 
I  found  that  D.  had  performed  the  task,  and 
that  the  child  did  not  seem  to  be  able  to  believe. 

During  the  afternoon  they  had  had  a  talk  with 
Louise  on  the  communication  board,  when  plans  had 
been  made  for  letters  in  automatic  writing  which 
Louise  was  to  send  her  mother,  through  Violet,  during 
the  winter.  Louise  wrote  out  what  she  called  a 
"secret  code"  that  they  were  to  use,  so  that  anybody 
who  looked  over  Violet's  shoulder  would  not  be  able 
to  tell  what  she  was  writing.  She  told  her  mother 
that  this  code  had  been  communicated  to  her  by  a 
man  who  said  he  had  been  a  Federal  spy  during  the 
Civil  War  and  had  been  caught  and  shot  by  the  Con- 
federates. She  gave  his  name  as  "Ben."  This  code 
I  discovered  upon  examination  was  one  I  had  seen 
some  years  ago,  and  very  simple;  made  by  the  use  of 
angles  and  dots  for  letters. 

Neither  D.  nor  Violet  had  ever  heard  of  it. 

Just  as  we  were  about  to  get  ready  for  the  session 
in  the  "cabinet"  with  Violet  on  the  qui  vive,  for  the 
spirits  had  called  the  meeting  for  8  130,  an  automobile 
drove  up,  and  our  friend  Esther  came  for  a  call. 
At  nine  o'clock  Violet  complained  of  being  very  sleepy 

189 


190         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

and  D.  took  her  upstairs.  She  rejoined  us  in  a 
moment,  telling  me  that  Violet  wanted  to  say  "Good- 
night" to  me.  When  I  reached  Violet,  she  was 
already  entranced,  and  Louise's  first  words  told  me  to 
invite  Esther  to  sit  with  us,  as  the  session  must 
go  on. 

After  Louise  came  a  visitor,  who  called  for  a 
cigarette.  I  handed  him  a  box  and  he  took  one  out 
and  tapped  it  and  demanded  a  match.  The  cigarette 
was  smoked  furiously,  and  our  visitor  lighted  a  sec- 
ond. Then  he  said,  "Is  there  any  way  to  get  a  little 
drink?" 

We  hesitated  to  supply  this  craving  but  were  as- 
sured that  it  would  do  Violet  no  harm,  and  mentioned 
there  was  a  bottle  of  curagoa  in  the  house. 

"I  can  get  it  myself,"  said  our  caller,  and  "he" 
walked  downstairs,  with  me  following.  He  went 
straight  to  the  spot  where  the  curagoa  was,  measured 
a  small  glass,  and  before  I  could  stop  him,  drank  it 
at  a  gulp.  I  hid  the  bottle  and  upon  my  return  found 
he  had  gone  to  a  cupboard  in  the  kitchen,  where  he 
filled  a  glass  from  a  claret  bottle.  I  grabbed  it  before 
he  could  drink  it  and  reproved  him  as  if  he  had  been 
an  ordinary  mortal,  for  I  did  not  wish  any  harm  to 
happen  to  the  child  whose  body  he  was  inhabiting. 

When  we  had  finished  the  sitting,  by  the  way,  I 
found  that  he  had  left  a  lighted  cigarette  on  the  din- 
ing-room table  and  that  it  had  ruined  a  newly  enam- 
eled surface.  Once  upstairs,  I  continued  scolding 
him,  and  D.  added  reproof.  He  seemed  to  realize 
what  he  had  done  and  said  contritely  that  he  was 
going  and  would  never  come  back. 

When  Louise  came  she  was  sobbing  and  it  was 
minutes  before  we  could  comfort  her.  She  said  that 


SPIRITS  AND  HUMAN  NATURE       191 

our  previous  visitor,  who  had  been  addicted  to  drink 
during  his  life-time,  had  experienced  the  same  crav- 
ing once  again  he  was  in  the  body ;  that  he  had  become 
very  much  liked  on  the  other  plane,  and  that  she  was 
sad  because  of  the  example  he  had  given  and  her  fear 
that  he  had  aroused  my  dislike.  I  assured  her  that 
this  was  not  true,  but  that  we  must  have  a  promise  that 
such  a  thing  must  never  happen  again.  However, 
it  was  a  long  time  before  Louise  was  gay  again. 

We  had  told  Esther  of  the  experiences  of  the  night 
before,  when  Louise  made  Violet  talk  in  her  sleep, 
and  the  performance  was  repeated,  Louise  evidently 
enjoying  it. 

Louise  sniffled  a  great  deal,  for  she  had  set  Violet's 
lachrymal  glands  going  with  her  weeping  and  it  was 
difficult  to  stop  them.  After  a  time  she  turned  on 
the  electric  light  so  that  we  could  see  her  face,  and 
did  this  several  times.  She  lay  with  eyes  closed. 

"I  can  keep  the  light  on  only  so  long  at  a  time 
without  doing  harm,"  she  explained. 

John  came.  He  said  he  had  been  much  grieved  by 
the  bibulous  activity  of  our  earlier  guest,  but  that  such 
a  thing  would  not  happen  again,  and  he  begged  us  to 
forget  it.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  I  asked  John 
to  tell  me  something  about  Heaven  as  it  really  is,  and 
mentioned  the  picture  that  some  religionists  conjure, 
of  a  spacious  realm  where  angels  wearing  halos  sit 
about  on  the  edges  of  clouds  playing  harps.  John 
laughed  heartily. 

"I  am  afraid  Heaven  would  not  be  a  very  happy 
place  under  those  circumstances,"  he  replied.  "As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Heaven  is  a  continuation  of  this  life 
here,  without  any  of  its  unhappiness.  It  is  the  place 


192         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

where  you  can  see  God.  It  is  possible  that  later  I 
may  be  able  to  tell  you  something  more,  but  not  now." 

Next  came  Agatha,  Violet's  mother,  and  then  the 
Indians,  and  then  back  came  Louise. 

During  our  conversation  Louise  had  insisted  that 
she  would  walk  home  with  Esther,  but  decided  later 
on  that  this  would  be  too  much  of  an  exertion.  It  is, 
therefore,  interesting  to  record  that  when  I  started 
home  with  Esther,  Violet  insisted  upon  accompany- 
ing us,  thus  demonstrating  that  Louise  had  implanted 
the  wish  in  her  sister  to  carry  out  what  she  herself 
had  promised  to  do. 

When  I  went  home  the  next  afternoon,  I  found  D. 
and  Violet  feeling  very  blue.  What  threatened  to 
assume  the  proportions  of  a  small  catastrophe  had 
taken  place.  Louise  had  told  them  that  she  would 
no  longer  communicate  with  them. 

She  had  insisted  that  her  mother  and  Violet  go  up- 
stairs to  the  cabinet  in  the  afternoon,  and  they  had 
demurred.  When  she  persisted,  they  had  refused,  on 
the  ground  that  the  evening  session  was  to  take  place 
anyhow.  Then  the  indicator  began  to  spell  phrases 
in  rapid  succession. 

"No  more  tip-table,  no  more  levitations,  no  more 
forms,  no  more  pictures,  no  more  comets,  no  more 
white  lights,  no  more  red  lights,  no  more  blue  lights, 
no  more  green,  green,  green  lights,"  came  the  mes- 
sage, emphasizing  the  "green"  this  way  because  it 
was  the  trance  signal.  Then  it  continued:  "No  more 
Morton,  no  more  Agatha,  no  more  Julius,  no  more 
Gordon,  no  more  Austin,"  and  kept  on  through  the 
names  of  the  guides  and  other  spirits  who  had  visited 
us.  Then,  as  D.  thought  the  message  finished,  the 


SPIRITS  AND  HUMAN  NATURE     193 

indicator  wrote :  "Oh !  I  forgot ;  no  more  Gustaaf ," — 
and  so  on  through  a  fuller  list ;  and  then,  "Good-by !" 

The  board  was  for  some  time  thereafter  unre- 
sponsive. Later,  one  of  the  guides  said  that  Louise 
had  left,  "taking  all  her  friends  with  her." 

I  was  rather  concerned  at  what  I  was  told,  and 
doubt  entered  my  mind.  I  sat  with  Violet  at  the 
board  for  a  time  after  dinner,  and  finally  Louise  came. 
I  told  her  I  was  much  grieved  over  what  I  had  been 
told,  and  asked  whether  it  meant  that  I  should  give 
up  writing  the  book.  However,  she  would  not  vouch- 
safe any  explanation  then,  and  I  announced  that  we 
would  not  go  upstairs  to  the  cabinet  at  the  usual  hour. 

But  John  came  on  the  board,  and  urged  that  we 
carry  out  our  usual  program,  and  see  what  would 
happen.  So  we  reconsidered,  reflecting  that,  after 
all,  spirits  must  still  have  some  human  nature  left. 

In  the  seance,  John  was  our  first  visitor,  and  I 
pressed  him  to  tell  me  something  more  about  Heaven, 
but  it  was  little  he  gave. 

"I  can  say  little  more  than  that  Heaven  is  not  such 
a  place  as  you  pictured  last  night,  with  angels  sitting 
about  on  the  edges  of  clouds  playing  harps  all  day 
long,"  he  said  and  laughed.  "Heaven  is  a  happy 
place,  and  there  one  finds  happiness  and  joy ;  no  evil, 
no  sorrow  and  no  suffering  or  anything  that  can  make 
one  sorrowful.  The  greatest  happiness  of  all  is  the 
sight  of  God." 

I  took  up  the  subject  of  Louise's  behavior  in  the 
afternoon.  "Is  there  any  explanation?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  and  immediately  went  away  and 
Louise  took  his  place. 

This  time  it  was  a  very  penitent  little  girl  who 


194         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

sobbed  out  in  her  mother's  arms  her  sorrow  for  what 
had  taken  place  in  the  afternoon. 

She  said  it  had  not  been  due  to  the  presence  of 
evil — just  a  feeling  of  contrariness,  which,  once  she 
had  entertained  it,  kept  gathering  force  that  could 
not  be  stopped.  Then  she  became  herself  again. 

It  was  pitch  dark  in  the  room,  but  we  heard  her 
take  a  book  from  the  shelf  overhead,  and  open  it. 

"I  am  going  to  read  you  something,"  she  said, 
though  I  could  hear  her  close  the  book  immediately 
afterward. 

"This  is  'At  Sunwich  Port,'  by  Jacobs;  page  173, 
chapter  13,  first  line  down:  'As  the  weeks  went  by  and 
no  word  was  heard  from  the  missing  captain,  it  was 
only  Kate  Nugent's  determined  opposition  that  kept 
her  aunt  from  advertising  in  the  agony  columns  of 
the  London  News.  Period.' ' 

After  the  seance,  I  got  the  book  and  opened  it,  and 
on  the  page  and  in  the  chapter  indicated,  found  these 
words : 

"Days  passed  but  no  word  came  from  the  missing 
captain,  and  only  the  determined  opposition  of  Kate 
Nugent  kept  her  aunt  from  advertising  in  the  agony 
columns  of  the  London  Press." 

Here  was  the  sense,  but  not  the  exact  wording.  On 
the  communication  board  I  told  Louise  that  she  had 
not  given  the  exact  words  in  the  book,  but  a  para- 
phrase. 

"Yes,"  she  replied  "you  see  I  read  it,  shut  the  book 
and  then  repeated  it  from  memory." 

Just  before  she  went  into  the  trance,  Violet  had 
been  weeping,  because  the  day  set  for  her  departure 
was  only  one  week  off.  It  was  several  minutes  before 


SPIRITS  AND  HUMAN  NATURE     195 

John  came,  following  Louise,  and  then  he  said,  "I 
could  not  come  until  Violet  had  quieted  down,  for  I 
could  not  talk  very  well  under  the  circumstances." 

Agatha  came  after  John,  and  Louise  returned  once 
more,  but  we  had  no  other  visitors. 


THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES;  AND  SOME 
ANCIENT  AMERICAN  "HISTORY" 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  SEVEN   SPIRIT   PLANES;   AND  SOME  ANCIENT 
AMERICAN  "HISTORY" 

THE  next  evening,  much  to  our  relief,  we  were 
not  asked  to  sing.  The  session  was  not  as 
successful,  on  the  whole,  as  many  of  its  pre- 
decessors, and  we  regarded  this  as  demonstration  that 
singing  really  helps.  The  spirits  talk  a  lot  about 
"vibrations,"  and  we  gather,  from  what  we  have  been 
told  many  a  time,  that  any  kind  of  melody  helps  get 
the  atmosphere  into  a  condition  that  assists  in  what- 
ever form  of  communication  is  attempted.  Whether 
it  is  that  several  voices,  producing  some  sort  of  har- 
mony, cause  the  air  to  vibrate  to  advantage,  I  do  not 
know.  That  seems  a  plausible  conclusion.  Anyhow, 
John,  when  he  came,  blamed  the  absence  of  singing 
for  what  he  admitted  to  be,  in  some  respects,  one  of 
the  least  interesting  seances  we  had  had  for  some 
time,  although  we  induced  John  to  give  us  more  in- 
formation about  the  spirit  planes. 

Violet  had  gone  into  the  trance,  and  Louise  had 
come  first,  as  she  had  on  every  occasion  except  one, 
giving  way  to  John.  We  had  had  something  on  the 
board  earlier  in  the  evening  about  the  spirit  planes, 
and  I  asked  John  to  tell  me  as  much  as  was  permis- 
sible. 

"There  are  seven  planes  between  Earth  and 
Heaven,"  said  John.  "On  each  of  these  planes  there 

199 


200         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

are  ten  steps,  which  are  themselves  subdivided  each 
into  three  shorter  steps.  The  spirit,  in  progressing, 
takes  three  of  these  shorter  steps  during  the  year,  on 
the  dates  Louise  gave  you  some  time  ago — February 
13,  July  25,  and  November  2. 

"The  greatest  task  for  the  spirit  is  at  the  start.  The 
life  over  here  must  be  begun  properly  and  promptly  in 
order  for  the  spirit  to  reach  Heaven  in  the  shortest 
possible  time.  Comparatively  few  reach  Heaven  in 
less  than  seventy  years,  and  the  average  time  is  about 
one  hundred  years.  It  often  happens  that  spirits  who 
quit  your  life  at  the  same  time  arrive  in  Heaven  many 
years  apart.  The  great  delay  is  at  the  beginning.  If 
a  man  is  not  properly  prepared  for  the  spirit  world, 
or  if  he  is  not  met  immediately  upon  his  arrival  by 
spirits  drawn  by  the  tie  of  relationship  or  of  Love, 
he  may  have  a  lot  of  difficulty  in  getting  started. 

"Making  ordinary  progress,  a  spirit  stays  about  ten 
years  upon  one  plane.  Then  there  comes  a  time  when 
it  is  graduated  to  the  next  plane.  I  cannot  explain 
to  you  how  this  takes  place;  it  is  something  like  pass- 
ing examinations  from-  one  grade  in  a  school  to 
another.  Yes,  we  have  teachers  in  all  the  grades  or 
steps.  They  are  men  and  women  who  have  had 
exceptional  educational  advantages  on  Earth,  and 
whose  training  in  your  life  helps  fit  them  for  their 
positions  on  the  spirit  planes. 

"While  the  progress  from  step  to  step  is  generally 
accomplished,  that  is  to  say,  from, one  short  step  to 
another,  the  examinations  every  year  are  strict,  and 
when  it  comes  to  passing  into  the  higher  grade,  it  often 
happens  that  a  student  is  held  back  through  lack  of 
preparation  and  diligence.  And  sometimes  a  spirit  is 
more  than  ten  years  on  one  plane.  When  one  goes 


THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES       201 

from  one  plane  to  the  next  above,  there  is  a  brief 
interval,  which  I  suppose  you  might  compare  with 
Death,  but  it  is  not  that.  You  might  more  aptly  de- 
scribe it  as  'translation.'  " 

What  John  said  naturally  demanded  further  ques- 
tioning from  me,  but  he  declined  to  answer  more, 
saying  "Good-by"  rather  abruptly.  Louise,  who  then 
came  back,  was  not  inclined  to  give  further  informa- 
tion, and  I  asked  if  our  gatherings  had  lost  interest 
for  our  usual  audiences. 

She  told  us  that  a  bigger  crowd  of  spirits  was  in 
attendance  than  ever,  but  one  great  feature  of  the 
novelty  of  our  seances,  the  fact  that  we  had  been  com- 
municating through  a  medium  who  had  not  the  faint- 
est idea  that  she  was  a  medium,  was  now  missing.  It 
had  been  necessary  to  tell  Violet,  and  we  had  done  so; 
but,  of  course,  now  that  she  knew,  the  really  big 
reason  for  the  attendance  of  crowds  was  gone. 

Very  rare  indeed  was  it,  she  assured  us,  that  spirits 
actually  entered  the  body  of  a  medium.  The  latter 
sees  spirits,  or  hears  their  voices  and  reports  what 
she  hears,  or  interprets  pictures  they  make  for  her, 
or  reads  the  words  on  their  lips,  quoting  them,  often- 
times, direct.  In  the  case  of  Violet,  there  could  not 
be  the  slightest  suspicion  of  commercialism,  and  the 
spirits  visiting  us  actually  entered  her  body,  and  using 
her  vocal  organs  actually  conversed,  in  what  was  not 
her  own  voice,  with  us  who  had  no  psychic  power. 

Mindful  of  what  Louise  had  said,  we  were  ready 
for  discouraging  results  the  following  evening,  and 
had  almost  made  up  our  minds  that,  the  spirits  had 
already  begun  to  carry  out  their  promise  to  take 
away  Violet's  power,  and  were  doing  this  gradually. 
This  seemed  confirmed  by  a  message  that  came 


202         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

through  the  board  that  the  session  would  be  short, 
and  that  only  the  table  would  probably  be  used. 
However,  the  sitting,  once  begun,  led  to  another  un- 
usual experience.  We  were  told  that  it  was  partly 
due  to  the  fact  that  in  entering  the  body  of  a  very 
young  person,  a  spirit  is  apt  to  take  on  some  of  the 
physical  characteristics  of  the  owner  of  the  body. 

We  had  not  employed  the  table  at  all  the  evening 
before,  but  this  time  we  followed  directions,  and  sang. 
For  a  time  there  were  manifestations  of  lights.  Some 
of  these  D.  saw,  but  all  I  could  distinguish  were  light- 
ish spots,  occasionally  punctuated  by  what  seemed  to 
be  tiny  comets,  and  might  be  put  down  by  a  doubter 
as  optical  illusions;  but  D.  saw  blue  lights,  red  lights 
and  lights  of  many  shades. 

After  a  time  Louise  came,  and  announced  that 
she  was  going  downstairs  to  see  her  brother,  who 
was  pounding  his  typewriter  in  his  room.  She 
knocked  at  his  door,  and  called  his  name,  but  he  was 
deep  in  an  article  he  was  preparing  and  declined  to 
be  interested.  He  had  come  to  believe  as  we  had,  but 
when  he  was  busy  writing,  nothing  must  interfere 
with  the  task  he  had  set  himself.  When  he  would  not 
receive  her,  she  turned  back  sadly  and  shook  with  sobs. 
This  was  only  for  a  moment,  however,  and  she  said 
she  was  going  out  for  a  walk.  I  stopped  behind  to 
get  my  hat  for  the  evening  was  chilly. 

A  cry  of  alarm  from  my  wife  sent  me  rushing  out- 
doors. Louise  had  disappeared.  It  was  pitch  dark 
and  when  I  had  run  down  the  drive  as  far  as  the  main 
road,  I  was  undecided  which  way  to  turn.  To  the 
left,  fifty  or  sixty  yards  away,  lay  the  entrance  to 
what  Louise  had  called  home;  to  the  right  the  road 
led  down  to  the  Sound,  past  a  swimming  hole  in 


THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES       203 

which,  only  a  few  years  ago,  I  had  had  a  narrow,  but 
unromantic  escape  from  drowning,  Louise  herself 
having  been  instrumental  in  saving  my  life. 

Louise  had  spoken  a  night  or  two  before  of  wanting 
to  go  "down  to  the  water,"  and  the  thought  awakened 
dreadful  possibilities.  However,  I  would  not  believe 
she  had  turned  to  the  right,  but  ran  in  the  direction  of 
"home."  At  the  entrance  to  the  grounds  I  was  unable 
to  distinguish  any  sign  of  her,  and  so,  with  my  heart 
in  my  throat,  turned  back,  to  make  for  the  water. 
But  before  I  reached  the  Camp  driveway,  I  heard  a 
reassuring  call  from  D.  Louise  had  simply  played  a 
trick  on  us  and  had  hidden  behind  the  "flivver,"  which 
had  not  been  put  into  the  garage  for  the  night.  She 
enjoyed  the  joke  immensely,  and  though  I  was  out  of 
breath  I  could  not  reprove  her. 

When  D.  chided  Louise  later  for  giving  us  such  a 
scare,  she  said :  "Oh,  I  feel  so  young  and  silly  in  Vio- 
let's body  sometimes.  Then  I  like  to  play  with  you 
as  I  did  when  a  little  girl.  As  we  spirits  have  no 
sensation  of  fear,  we  naturally  forget  how  easily 
humans  are  frightened." 

However,  she  insisted  on  going  for  a  walk,  and  we 
went  out  to  the  road  and  toward  the  house,  but  there 
was  a  light  shining  in  Esther's  home  just  over  the 
hill  to  the  right  and  Louise  announced  that  she  was 
going  there,  much  to  our  dismay.  We  were  sure 
Esther  was  entertaining  guests,  and  we  did  not 
want  any  sensational  happenings.  Louise  was  per- 
sistent, and  got  half-way  down  Esther's  when  I 
caught  and  held  her.  She  struggled  violently,  but 
after  a  few  moments  relaxed,  and  I  believed  that  she 
had  fainted.  I  took  up  Violet's  form  in  my  arms. 
She  was  remarkably  heavy  for  a  child  of  thirteen,  but 


204         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

I  started  to  carry  her  back  to  the  camp,  puffing-  and 
blowing  at  every  step.  I  had  gone  about  ten  yards 
when  Louise's  voice  spoke. 

"Daddy,"  it  said,  "you  should  not  have  done  that — 
picked  me  up  and  carried  me.  Violet  is  too  heavy  for 
you.  I  was  just  getting  strength.  Put  me  down." 

Now  she  was  willing  to  turn  back,  and  she  was  very 
gleeful  over  the  fright  she  had  caused  us,  in  spite  of 
expressing  pity  for  me,  who  was  still  paying  the  pen- 
alty for  unwonted  exercise.  Once  in  the  camp, 
Louise  made  another  effort  to  interest  her  brother,  but 
it  was  not  successful,  and  she  went  sorrowfully  up- 
stairs. Here  it  was  evident  that  her  exertion  had 
tired  her  and  she  lay  down  on  the  couch,  and  pretty 
soon  "Sun  Flower"  came.  She  amused  us  by  telling 
us  that  the  Indians  had  given  us  all  Indian  names. 

"You,"  she  said  to  D.,  "are  'Lady-with-head-on- 
fire.' '  My  name  proved  to  be,  "Big-man-with-book." 
Before  the  sitting  began,  I  had  been  reading  a  part  of 
the  book  and  Louise  had  been  making  comments  on 
the  communication  board. 

"Little  Medie  (this  was  the  name  the  spirits  used 
for  Violet),  we  call  'Lady-sitting-on-couch-surround- 
ed-by  spirits.'  Me  Brave  (this  was  the  name  she 
always  called  our  son) — let  me  see  what  is  his  name. 
Oh!  It  is,  'Big-man-sitting-on-stool-playing-clicker- 
eating  glue/ ' 

The  last  was  in  reference  to  our  son's  writing  let- 
ters and  licking  the  envelopes.  Then  in  a  whisper 
"Sun  Flower"  sang  a  little  song  which  had  all  the 
characteristics  of  Indian  melodies. 

The  next  visitor  declined  to  announce  his  name. 
Finally  we  drew  from  him  that  he  was  Morton.  He 
refused  to  talk  until  I  had  reminded  him  that  he  had 


THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES       205 

promised  to  get  me  some  information  about  how  the 
Indians  first  reached  this  country. 

"I  have  it,"  he  said,  "and  that  is  what  I  have  come 
to  tell  you."  And  then  followed  this,  word  for  word, 
as  I  have  set  it  down: 

"In  the  beginning,  this  continent  was  joined  with 
Asia.  Soon  after  what  you  call  the  beginning  of  the 
world — as  nearly  as  I  can  establish  it,  just  before  the 
time  of  the  downfall  of  the  Tower  of  Babel — the  two 
continents  broke  apart  and  a  great  cataclysm  covered 
an  enormous  area  with  the  sea.  Before  this  time,  the 
ancestors  of  American  Indians,  in  small  numbers,  had 
made  their  way  through  deserts  and  forests  to  what 
is  now  this  continent,  even  going  to  Mexico  and  parts 
of  South  America.  Some  of  them  were  of  the  same 
race  as  the  Egyptians,  and  naturally  of  the  same  civili- 
zation. These  people  went  to  what  is  now  Mexico 
and  Peru,  where  they  built  temples  and  monuments 
that  in  some  ways  suggest  Egyptian  architecture. 
They  were  similar  to  the  Medes  and  ancient  Persians. 
Perhaps  the  relation  to  these  was  closer  than  to  the 
Egyptians.  Anyhow,  they  were  builders,  like  all 
those  races.  You  know  history  teaches  that  in  their 
beginning  the  Egyptians  were  not  much  more  than 
Indians,  but  developed  a  civilization  of  their  own. 
Of  course  the  number  of  that  stock  that  had  got  so 
far  away  from  the  cradle  of  their  race  before  the 
Flood  cut  them  off  from  the  rest  of  humanity  was 
small,  but  in  time  their  descendants  became  great  na- 
tions." 

"Where  did  you  get  this  information?"  I  inquired. 

"I  got  it  from  an  old  guide  who  lived  about  that 
time.  As  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn,  the  world 
existed  long  before  the  date  that  biblical  scholars  like 


206         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

to  agree  upon,  and  the  'six  days'  spoken  of  in  the 
Bible  as  the  period  of  its  creation  should  not  be  taken 
as  six  days  of  your  time. 

"To  revert  to  the  physical  part  of  what  I  have  said, 
it  is  known  here  that  the  Atlantic  Coast  is  gradually 
slipping  into  the  sea,  while  the  western  side  of  this 
country  is  gradually  rising.  This  is,  however,  a  very 
slow  process.  Nevertheless,  thousands  of  years  hence 
there  will  be  no  land  where  we  now  are,  and  New 
York  will  have  disappeared  beneath  the  sea.  How- 
ever, there  is  no  immediate  occasion  for  alarm.  It 
may  interest  you  to  mention  that  west  of  California 
will  arise  new  lands  now  undreamt  of. 

"Adam  was  the  first  real  man.  That  is  established. 
But  before  that,  there  was  a  long  period  of  develop- 
ment before  God  created  Adam  in  the  form  that  man 
is  to-day,  and  with  the  reason  that  distinguishes  him 
from  brutes.  The  parents  of  Adam  were  not  like 
common  apes;  but  the  ape  had  been  developed  until 
Adam's  father  and  mother  were  creatures  half  man 
and  half  ape.  Of  course,  this  supports  the  Darwinian 
theory.  At  that  time  God  was  very  close  to  the  earth. 
He  spoke  to  men  and  talked  with  them,  and  it  was 
from  Him  that  the  Ten  Commandments  were  given 
Moses. 

"I  heard  you  asking  John  last  night  for  informa- 
tion about  life  on  the  spirit  planes.  It  may  interest 
you  to  know  that  we  who  are  on  this  plane  can  com- 
municate with  those  on  the  plane  above,  often  in  much 
the  same  manner  as  you  communicate  with  us.  We 
have  spirits  who  correspond  to  your  real  mediums 
on  earth  and  through  whom  communication  is  held. 
I  cannot  tell  you  the  name  of  this  plane  except  I  may 
say  that  it  is  the  one  on  which  we  have  to  make  up 


THE  SEVEN  SPIRIT  PLANES       207 

for  the  wrong  that  we  have  done  on  earth  before 
going  on  to  the  next  plane.  For  some  it  is  hard,  but 
Hell  itself,  as  it  really  is,  is  not  for  human  beings — 
only  for  the  devil  and  his  imps.  The  'hell'  that  is  ex- 
perienced by  men  and  women  who  are  unforgivably 
bad  on  earth  is  far  worse  than  Hell  itself  could  pos- 
sibly be." 

He  would  not  go  into  particulars.  Louise  had  said 
that  the  "unforgivably  bad"  are  earth-bound  for  thou- 
sands of  years. 


LEVITATION  EXTRAORDINARY 


CHAPTER  XXI 

LEVITATION   EXTRAORDINARY 

OUR  visitors  seemed  to  prefer  old  songs,  but 
at  our  next  session,  on  Friday  night,  they  con- 
sented to  hear  something  of  a  later  vintage 
than  we  had  been  giving  them.  They  admitted,  for 
instance,  they  liked  Harry  Lauder,  and  when  "I  Love 
a  Lassie"  was  sung,  the  table  thumped  through  the 
little  dance  that  the  Scotch  comedian  has  made 
famous.  This  evening  they  took  possession  of  Violet 
before  she  was  fully  entranced,  somewhat  to  our 
dismay,  but  there  were  no  evil  results. 

D.  and  Violet  had  been  at  Woodlawn  during  the 
afternoon  and  had  stopped  at  a  stone-cutter's  to  in- 
quire about  a  design  for  a  monument.  They  had 
endeavored,  through  a  way  they  had  of  communicat- 
ing with  her  at  any  time,  to  get  Louise  to  select  a 
stone,  but  she  did  not  seem  to  be  interested,  although 
she  was  induced  finally  to  express  a  preference. 

At  the  seance  in  the  evening  D.  recalled  to  her  the 
visit  to  Woodlawn,  but  Louise  treated  it  very  lightly. 
She  said  what  was  in  the  ground  seemed  to  her 
"Nothing  but  an  old,  ragged  dress."  "Mummy," 
she  went  on,  "you  cried  at  Woodlawn  this  after- 
noon." Then,  when  D.  protested:  "Yes,  you  did. 
You  and  little  sister,  too.  I  don't  want  you  to  do 
that" 

A  little  later  on,  when  her  brother  had  refused  to 

211 


212         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

come  and  join  us,  she  said  she  would  go  down  to 
him.  She  had  often  warned  us  against  turning  on 
the  light  suddenly  when  Violet  was  in  a  trance,  though 
she  had  assured  us  that  a  red  light  did  not  make  any 
difference.  As  we  had  neglected  to  put  a  cloth  over 
the  light  this  time,  we  asked  if  it  would  be  safe  for 
her  to  go  downstairs  with  the  lights  on  in  that  part 
of  the  house. 

"I  will  make  it  so,"  she  replied,  and  tied  a  thin 
shawl  about  her  head. 

Her  brother  had  just  got  back  from  town  and  work, 
and  was  eating  supper.  She  played  with  him  for  a 
time,  and  took  a  spoonful  of  apple  sauce  and  ate  it. 

Later  on,  she  told  us,  in  reply  to  questions,  that 
when  she  entered  Violet's  body,  the  sight  of  her 
brother  always  took  her  back  to  the  time  when  they 
were  little  children  together,  and  she  could  not  help 
being  childish  at  such  times. 

John  came  for  a  short  time  and  we  asked  him  if  he 
had  been  in  Europe  lately.  He  said  he  had  not,  and 
that  though  he  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  in  Eu- 
rope during  the  war,  he  had  not  been  there  since  the 
armistice. 

"So  many  of  us  were  occupied  during  the  war  with 
'taking  the  boys  over/  "  he  said,  meaning  that  they 
had  been  engaged  in  meeting  the  spirts  of  those  who 
were  slain,  or  died  from  disease. 

Agatha  said  she  "went  over"  eight  years  ago.  This 
we  learned  later  was  true.  She  had  realized  for  a 
long  time  before  that  she  was  going,  as  hers  had  been 
a  long  illness,  and  she  was  more  or  less  prepared. 
The  only  thing  she  regretted  in  going  was  having  to 
leave  her  little  girl  behind. 

Once  before,  during  the  summer,  we  had  tried  the 


LEVITATION  EXTRAORDINARY    213 

experiment  of  putting  a  blank  piece  of  paper  and  a 
pencil  in  a  box,  to  see  if  Louise  could  write  upon  it. 
The  result  had  been  failure,  for  the  paper  was  still 
unmarked  when  we  unwrapped  the  box.  This  night 
we  were  encouraged  to  repeat  the  experiment.  Each 
of  the  three  of  us  examined  the  paper  for  signs  of  a 
mark,  and  the  others  watched  while  one  put  the  paper 
and  pencil  in  a  box,  wrapped  and  tied  it  up,  and  sealed 
it  with  sealing  wax.  Certainly  no  human  agency  could 
have  marked  that  paper  now. 

We  took  the  box  upstairs  and  kept  it  in  the  "cabi- 
net" while  the  seance  was  going  on.  None  of  us 
touched  it.  When,  at  the  end  of  the  session  I  un- 
wrapped the  box,  I  found  a  heavy  ring  in  lead  pencil 
on  the  paper. 

Louise  had  said,  during  the  sitting,  that  Morton 
always  had  with  him  a  pet  cocker  spaniel,  named 
"Teddy."  Afterwards  Violet  said  she  remembered 
"Teddy,"  and  that  he  had  died  when  she  was  about 
four  years  old. 

We  were  scheduled  to  go  to  the  country  club  on 
Saturday  evening,  and  by  agreement  the  seance  was 
not  to  take  place  until  the  following  night.  While  D. 
and  Violet  were  conversing  on  the  board  early  in  the 
day,  a  new,  hesitant  touch  came  upon  the  indicator 
and  spelled  out  that  it  was  "J.  S."  D.  could  not  iden- 
tify such  a  person. 

"Why,  I  was  your  'fellow,'  "  spelled  out  the  in- 
dicator, using  a  colloquialism  of  some  years  ago. 

"Where  did  I  know  you?"  asked  D. 

"I  used  to  know  you  in  Bay  City,"  was  the  reply. 

This  did  not  help  much,  and  the  indicator  con- 
tinued: "I  was  sixteen  when  I  died  from  diphtheria." 

Then  D.  remembered  that  when  a  child  of  thirteen 


214         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

she  had  cherished  a  great  admiration  for  a  boy  several 
years  older  than  herself,  whose  name  she  had  for- 
gotten, except  that  it  was  "James,"  and  that  his  last 
name  began  with  "S."  That  boy  had  died  at  about 
the  age  given  by  "J.  S."  and  from  diphtheria. 

That  afternoon  Louise  said  she  was  going  to  try  a 
new  experiment.  A  girl  friend  had  lost  her  mind  a 
short  time  after  Louise  became  ill,  and  the  latter  had 
asserted  on  the  board  that  the  spirits  of  the  demented 
partly  quit  their  bodies.  She  said  she  was  going  to 
try  to  bring  Geraldine's  spirit  to  talk  with  us.  A 
little  later  the  indicator  began  to  manifest  power  of 
an  entirely  different  character  from  that  shown  by 
Louise,  and  said  that  it  was  being  operated  by 
Geraldine.  The  latter  explained  that  it  was  only 
partly  detached  from  its  body,  otherwise  it  could 
"talk"  better.  Later  I  took  up  the  board  and  what 
professed  to  be  Geraldine's  spirit  began  to  talk  with 
me.  I  remarked  that  this  was  uncanny  and  my  mind 
could  not  quite  grasp  the  idea  of  a  spirit  absolutely 
quitting  the  body  when  that  body  was  awake.  The 
spirit,  apparently  baffled  by  my  skepticism,  went  away. 

We  were  now  approaching  the  end  of  our  strange 
summer.  Under  our  agreement  with  the  spirits,  the 
seances  were  to  close  on  Tuesday,  September  2,.  Full 
seances  were  to  be  held  Sunday  and  Monday  nights, 
and  just  a  short  session  on  Tuesday  night  in  our  apart- 
ment in  town.  Violet  was  due  to  leave  for  the  West 
on  Wednesday  and  we  had  been  promised  that  her 
power  would  be  taken  away  before  she  left,  so  as  to 
safeguard  her  from  any  danger  that  might  come* 
through  it. 

On  Sunday  evening,  August  31,  we  had  been  sing- 
ing downstairs  to  keep  up  our  spirits,  for  the  child 
had  attached  herself  so  much  to  us  that  the  idea  of 


LEVITATION  EXTRAORDINARY    215 

separating  from  her  made  us  sad,  and  apparently  our 
musical  efforts  had  counted  in  getting  harmonious  at- 
mospheric conditions,  for  we  had  hardly  taken  our 
seats  and  turned  off  the  light  when  things  began  to 
happen. 

Violet  was  sitting  on  a  wicker  stool  that  looked  like 
an  inverted  waste  basket.  The  table  called  for  a  Harry 
Lauder  song.  Immediately  Violet's  stool  began  scrap- 
ing along  the  floor,  and  she  cried:  "See  what  they 
are  doing!" 

We  turned  on  the  light  and  found  that  she  and  her 
stool  had  been  moved  bodily  back  one  yard.  We  had 
hardly  turned  off  the  light  again  when  there  was  a 
noise  as  if  some  one  were  falling  upon  the  floor.  The 
light  revealed  that  the  stool  had  been  snatched  from 
under  Violet.  Again  the  electric  light  was  turned  off 
and  the  same  thing  happened.  I  may  add  that  enough 
light  came  through  the  window  to  make  it  possible  to 
distinguish  objects,  and  Violet  was  between  me  and 
the  window. 

Violet  then  said  to  me,  "There  is  some  one  standing 
between  you  and  Mother."  We  asked  the  table  who 
this  was  and  it  spelled  out  the  initials,  "J.  S.,"  who 
was  identified  as  the  boy  who  had  talked  to  D.  the  day 
before.  He  spelled  out  his  first  name  as  "James." 

Next,  Violet's  stool,  with  her  on  it,  was  pushed 
across  the  floor  again.  Then  it  was  twisted  around 
and  around.  I  had  now  put  out  my  arm  to  prevent 
her  from  falling. 

We  put  our  hands  on  the  table,  which  began  to  spell. 
It  said:  "Leave  Violet  alone,"  and  made  a  lunge  in 
my  direction.  This  I  interpreted  to  mean  that  I  should 
not  touch  her  while  the  experiment  was  going  on. 
Then  the  table  made  a  lunge  toward  Violet  and  spelled 
out,  "You  take  hands  off  table." 


216         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

"This  seat  feels  just  as  if  it  were  charged  with  a 
big  current  of  electricity!"  exclaimed  the  child. 

The  wicker  stool  began  grinding  and  twisting  upon 
the  floor,  creaking  as  it  went.  Every  few  minutes  we 
would  turn  on  the  light  to  see  what  had  happened. 

Suddenly  the  child  and  the  stool  were  lifted  in  the 
air  a  distance  of  about  six  inches.  The  next  act  was 
for  both  to  describe  on  the  floor  an  arc  of  about  seven 
feet.  The  table  now  told  D.  to  get  off  the  bed  on 
which  she  was  sitting. 

Next  followed  a  levitation  of  Violet,  this  time  of 
fully  one  foot,  I  could  tell,  because  at  every  sound  I 
put  out  my  arm  to  catch  her  in  case  she  fell.  Then 
the  stool  began  scraping  heavily  again  and  whirled 
round  and  round  until  Violet  called  that  she  was  get- 
ting dizzy,  and  finally  landed  with  her  against  the  bed. 

There  was  still  one  more  astonishing  performance 
in  store. 

We  had  moved  the  stool  away  from  the  bed  before 
Violet  sat  on  it  again.  This  time,  after  a  preliminary 
scraping,  the  stool  creaked,  and  a  heavy  body  landed 
on  the  bed,  and  merry  screams  came  from  Violet. 
The  spirits  had  lifted  her  and  the  stool  a  distance  of 
fully  eighteen  inches,  and  thrown  her  so  that  she  had 
fallen  comfortably  and  lengthwise.  Violet  weighed 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds. 

Naturally  we  were  interested  in  knowing  how  many 
spirits  had  been  required  to  do  this.  The  table  signi- 
fied that  it  would  inform  us,  and  began  to  count.  It 
had  tipped  off  one  hundred  when  I  asked  if  several 
hundred  had  been  required  to  do  the  work.  The  an- 
swer was,  "Yes.  Five  hundred."  This  Louise  later 
confirmed. 


LEVITATION  EXTRAORDINARY    217 

The  table  now  signified  that  the  trance  was  about 
to  begin,  and  Violet  announced  that  the  room  was  full 
of  animals,  particularly  dogs  and  cats.  She  said  a 
big,  brown,  striped  cat  was  sitting  on  my  lap.  This 
the  spirits  identified  as  a  pet  of  my  childhood,  by 
name,  "Tom,"  who  at  the  ripe  age  of  ten  was  poisoned 
by  a  neighbor,  and  whose  demise  was  a  tragedy  of  my 
boyhood ;  for  I  was  not  permitted  to  have  a  dog,  and 
Tom  took  the  place  of  such,  and  used  to  follow  me 
about  like  one. 

Then  she  spoke  of  a  kitten  lying  in  her  own  lap, 
and  said  a  crab  was  "sitting"  in  front  of  the  kitten. 
She  described  this  kitten  as  being  gray,  with  a  white 
collar,  white  paws,  and  a  white-tipped  tail. 

When  Louise  came  a  moment  later,  she  told  us 
to  ask  Violet  to  "place"  the  kitten. 

So,  after  the  seance,  D.  said  to  the  child,  "Did  you 
ever  have  a  kitten  you  were  particularly  fond  of?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Violet.  "It  was  such  a  pretty  kitten. 
It  was  gray.  There  was  a  strip  of  white  around  its 
neck,  and  its  paws  were  white  and  so  was  the  tip  of 
its  tail.  It  used  to  walk  sideways  in  a  funny  way, 
and  Grandfather  said  it  was  like  a  crab.  So  we  named 
it  'Crabby.'  " 

When  Louise  told  us  that  five  hundred  spirits  had 
assisted  in  the  experiments  we  had  just  seen,  we  asked 
how  it  was  possible  for  so  many  to  take  part,  for  it 
did  not  seem  reasonable  that  the  little  stool  on  which 
Violet  was  seated  could  be  the  center  of  five  hundred 
distinct  efforts.  She  said,  "I  can  only  explain  it  by 
saying,  'fourth  dimension.'  Of  course,  you  would  not 
understand  that.  If  Violet  weighed  only  seventy-five 
pounds  we  could  easily  have  lifted  her  to  the  ceiling." 

Morton  was  the  next  visitor,  and  we  asked  him 


218         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

whether  D.  and  I  would  be  able  to  do  anything  with 
the  communication  board  and  the  table  after  Violet 
left.  He  said  that  we  could  use  the  communication 
board  and  that  we  could  tip  the  table,  but  that  we 
must  not  be  disappointed  if  we  had  no  results  with 
the  latter  at  once. 

"You  may  have  to  sit  for  a  hour  at  a  time  in  order 
to  get  the  necessary  power  concentrated,"  he  said. 
"And  it  is  possible  that  you  will  have  to  sit  this  long 
as  many  as  three  nights  before  you  get  any  results 
whatever.  But  it  can  be  done." 

John  came  next  and  he  asserted  that  Violet  had  been 
lifted  about  six  inches  at  the  first  levitation  and  in 
the  second  up  to  the  level  of  the  bed.  In  answer  to 
questions,  John  said,  "Education  and  mentality  in 
your  world  continue  in  the  next,  and  the  man  who  is 
educated  while  on  earth  has  a  great  advantage  in  this 
plane."  John  also  said,  concerning  Violet,  that  she 
had  to  live  on  the  earth  plane  and  must  lead  a  human 
life;  therefore,  her  unusual  power  must  be  taken  away, 
lest  she  fall  inta  the  hands  of  exploiters. 

Next  came  Cecilia,  who  wanted  to  know  if  we 
wished  to  ask  her  any  questions.  She  had  a  different 
handclasp  from  any  that  we  had  yet  felt. 

Agatha  came  for  a  short  time,  and  then  Catherine 
for  her  first  visit.  She  said  she  had  never  "come 
through"  this  way  before.  Her  handclasp  was  quite 
different  from  Cecilia's  and  very  formal. 

Next  came  Louise,  to  wind  up  the  evening  meeting, 
as  it  were.  It  happened  that  my  glasses  fell  on  the 
floor  and  I  could  not  find  them  in  the  darkness.  She 
stooped  over  and  picked  them  up  and  handed  them 
to  me;  which  bore  out  her  claim  that  she  could  see 
as  well  in  the  dark  as  in  bright  light. 


THE  GUESTS  TAKE  LEAVE 


CHAPTER  XXIJ 

THE   GUESTS   TAKE   LEAVE 

WE  had  no  idea  that  our  seances  were  to  come 
to  an  end  on  Labor  Day,  for  the  program 
agreed  upon  was  that  there  was  to  be  the 
usual  session  this  evening  in  the  Camp,  and  a  "finale" 
in  the  apartment  in  town  the  next  evening  when  our 
friends  were  to  "come  through"  and  say  "Good-by." 

But  Violet  was  to  leave  for  the  West  on  Wednes- 
day, and  during  the  early  evening  we  had  talked  things 
over,  and  D.  and  I  had  agreed,  out  of  the  hearing  of 
Violet,  that  we  ought  to  give  the  child  some  entertain- 
ment in  New  York  the  night  before  she  was  to  leave 
us.  She  had  become  very  fond  of  us  and  seemed  very 
loath  to  go  away,  although  it  meant  reunion  with  her 
grandparents.  We  decided  that  she  really  ought  to  see 
the  Hippodrome,  or  something  like  that,  and  have  the 
opportunity  at  least  of  brightening  up  a  little  before 
her  long  journey. 

The  first  thing  that  happened  after  we  put  out  the 
light  and  raised  the  window  curtain  was  that  the  little 
table  turned  a  succession  of  somersaults.  Then  Isabel 
and  her  seat  were  moved  about  over  the  floor  as  on 
the  night  before,  and  the  stool  was  pulled  from  under 
her.  Next  she  and  her  stool  were  whirled  about  on 
the  floor.  Then  the  stool  was  taken  from  under  her, 
and  as  she  stood  up  to  recover  her  balance,  it  was  put 
down  over  her  head.  Next,  the  stool  was  taken  from 

221 


222         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

under  Violet  and  placed  on  the  head  of  D.,  who  sat 
on  the  bed.  Then  Violet  and  her  seat  were  rocked 
about  around  the  room,  pushed  toward  the  bed. 
the  child  and  the  stool  were  raised  in  the  air,  and, 
as  she  jumped,  the  stool  landed  upon  my  knee.  Violet 
had  hardly  resumed  her  seat  when  the  two  were  raised 
again,  and  the  stool  thrown  over  my  head.  This 
argued  a  levitation  of  at  least  two  feet  and  a  half. 
Several  times  the  child  was  lifted  fully  this  high. 

In  order  to  measure  the  next  levitation,  I  kept  my 
hand  on  Violet.  She  was  lifted  in  the  air  until  her 
head  was  within  two  inches  of  the  rafters.  This  in- 
sured a  levitation  of  at  least  three  feet  from  the  floor. 

We  had  become  fearful  lest  Violet  suffer  some  harm, 
for  it  was  very  easy  to  fall  off  the  stool,  which  as  I 
said  before  was  of  wicker,  and  the  levitation  was 
called  off. 

The  promise  had  been  given  us  that  her  power  would 
be  taken  away  from  her  before  she  left,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  process  was  something  that  at  first 
frightened  us,  for  it  took  the  form  of  a  severe  mus- 
cular cramp.  However,  we  were  assured  that  it 
would  not  be  harmful.  Louise,  who  was  the  first  to 
come,  confirmed  our  belief  that  the  child's  power  was 
in  process  of  being  withdrawn,  but  insisted  that 
this  would  not  be  injurious,  and  added  that  it  was 
better  for  her  full  protection  that  this  should  be  done. 

Then  came  Violet's  father,  Morton. 

"I  came  to-night  to  say  good-by!"  he  said.  "We 
had  intended  waiting  until  to-morrow  night,  but  we 
heard  you  talking  before  the  seance  and  have  agreed 
that  it  was  best,  as  long  as  you  wish  it,  that  the  end 
come  to-night.  As  we  leave  to-night,  her  power  will 
disappear.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  using  the  communica- 


THE  GUESTS  TAKE  LEAVE        223 

tion  board  really  requires  more  of  the  substance  that 
we  employ  than  we  require  in  levitation.  I  heard  you 
estimate  how  high  up  we  lifted  Violet,  and  you  were 
correct.  If  we  had  lifted  her  any  higher,  her  head 
would  have  come  into  contact  with  the  rafters.  There 
were  six  hundred  of  us  engaged  in  that  particular 
operation.  A  spirit's  lifting  power,  when  it  comes 
to  earthly  matter,  is  very  small  and  it  may  take  five 
or  six  of  us  to  lift  one  pound  unless  conditions  are 
exceptionally  good.  There  were  not  enough  of  us  last 
night  to  do  what  we  wished  and  so  we  brought  in 
reinforcements  this  evening.  After  to-night  Violet 
will  be  able  still  to  use  the  communication  board  and 
to  tip  table,  but  she  will  not  be  able  to  go  into  a 
trance." 

Violet  had  been  reading  during  the  afternoon  an 
article  in  which  a  fiction  writer  severely  attacked  Sir 
Oliver  Lodge  for  statements  the  scientist  had  made 
with  regard  to  his  psychical  investigations,  and  it  left 
a  great  impression  upon  her.  She  had  been  eager  for 
the  book  to  be  written,  but  now  she  argued  that  if  I 
published  it  as  I  intended,  I  would  be  ridiculed  and 
she  could  not  bear  to  think  that  she  would  have  been 
the  innocent  cause,  Morton  said  he  had  read  the 
paper  over  Violet's  shoulder  and  he  knew  that  certain 
critics  were  bound  to  say  that  Isabel  had  either  hypno- 
tized us  into  seeing  and  hearing  things,  or  had  artfully 
connived  at  our  deception. 

"You  cannot  make  bull-headed  men  like  the  writer 
of  that  article  believe  that  she  did  not  know  every- 
thing that  was  going  on  while  she  was  in  the  trance 
and  that  she  was  not  fooling  you,"  he  said.  "Of 
course,  such  men  will  not  believe  what  you  say.  They 
have  never  investigated  psychical  matters.  They  write 


224          REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

fiction  to  make  money,  and  they  won't  believe  that  you 
have  not  made  up  a  story  of  this  summer's  experiences 
of  whole  cloth  or  else  that  you  were  not  mesmerized  or 
hoodwinked.  However,  I  suppose  you  are  prepared 
for  that.  Well,  there  are  lots  waiting  to  say  good-by," 
he  said,  "and  I  have  had  my  turn.  Good-by.  Thank 
you  for  what  you  are  doing  for  my  little  girl." 

Agatha  came  next,  and  she  clasped  both  D.'s 
and  then  my  hands  with  both  of  hers  and  said,  "Good- 
by."  Then  she  said,  "Good-by,  my  darling,"  and  we 
could  detect  her  petting  Violet's  body  and  patting  her 
face.  "Good-by,  my  darling,  good-by,"  she  said 
finally. 

Next  was  John.  "This  is  the  end,"  he  said  after 
greeting  us  "Good-by."  He  shook  hands  with  that 
strong,  firm  pressure  that  was  characteristic. 

Next  came  Cecilia,  who  said,  "Good  evening,'^  and 
then,  "Good-by";  and  then  followed  in  succession, 
Catherine  and  Dewdrop,  and  then  Raindrop.  The  lat- 
ter had  become  very  much  attached  to  D.  and  em- 
braced her  before  finally  saying  "Good-by."  Next 
came  Sun  Flower,  who  demanded,  "Me  Brave,"  and 
would  not  be  satisfied  until  we  assured  her  that  her 
"Brave"  was  busy  writing,  but  that  we  would  give 
him  her  message.  Then  Muddy  Water  came  for  just 
a  greeting  and  a  "Good-by." 

Next  came  Ed,  one  of  our  son's  guides,  making  his 
first  appearance  in  the  body.  Ed  was  rather  boister- 
ous, and  stayed  quite  some  time.  He  had  the  rarest 
accumulation  of  vocabulary  of  any  spirit  in  our  ex- 
perience, for  every  time  we  would  say  something  to 
him,  he  would  answer  with  slang  or  colloquial  ex- 
pressions, with  many  of  which  neither  D.  nor  Violet 
was  at  all  familiar.  For  instance,  he  used  "ding- 


THE  GUESTS  TAKE  LEAVE        225 

tootling,"  a  mild  swear  word  which  I  believe  was 
current  in  New  England  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century;  "my  vest  is  open,  search  me,"  and  other 
rather  modern  expressions  by  which  he  seemed  to  set 
great  store.  He  stayed  longer  than  anybody  else,  and 
finally  announced  that,  "He  guessed  he'd  better  not 
keep  that  gosh-darned  bunch  of  waiters  hanging 
around  much  longer." 

Next  came  Paul,  simply  to  shake  hands;  and  then, 
for  the  first  time,  we  heard  a  voice  say,  "This  is 
Jeanne.  Good-by."  Her  handclasp  was  as  strong  as 
a  man's.  Jeanne  was  one  of  Henriette's  guides.  Next 
came  George,  and  then  Albert,  my  two  guides,  with 
whom  it  was  a  case  simply  of  "Good  evening"  and 
"Good-by."  And  then  came  Julius,  who  said  it  was  the 
first  time  he  had  "come  back"  in  the  flesh,  and  that  he 
had  only  come  for  the  experience, and  to  say"good-by." 

Next  came  Louise.  "This  is  all,  Daddy  and  Mum- 
my," she  said.  "Good-by.  I  will  be  with  you  and  I 
shall  talk  with  you  on  the  board,  but  this  is  the  end 
of  our  summer." 

It  was  as  if  she  were  going  on  a  long  journey.  She 
assured  us  that  Violet's  power  would  depart  soon  after 
she  herself  left  the  child's  body.  We  could  not  per- 
suade her  to  linger,  and  shortly  after  she  said  good-by 
it  became  evident  that  the  process  of  withdrawing 
Isabel's  power  was  being  completed,  for  she  was  again 
subjected  to  a  severe  muscular  cramp.  That  alarmed 
us,  but  we  had  been  informed  that  this  process  was 
necessary,  if  we  were  sincere  in  our  desire  that  the 
child  should  be  able  to  have  a  natural  life,  free  from 
possibility  of  exploitation  of  her  unusual  power,  and 
that  the  method  of  withdrawal  of  this  would  have 
absolutely  no  harmful  results  if  we  made  no  mistaken 


226         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

move  to  render  an  assistance  that  we  could  not  give. 
The  only  noticeable  physical  consequence,  it  was  said, 
would  be  that  there  would  be  a  temporary  loss  in 
weight  And,  to  our  great  relief,  the  process  proved 
brief,  and  soon  Violet  was  with  us  again,  as  natural 
as  ever,  and  listening  with  intense  interest  to  what 
had  happened  during  her  period  of  unconsciousness. 

It  so  happened  that  that  day  the  child  had  been 
weighed,  and  tipped  the  scales  at  120  pounds.  The 
next  day  she  was  found  to  weigh  just  114  pounds. 

We  had  now  come  to  the  end  of  our  unusual  sum- 
mer. 

For  days  we  felt  a  sort  of  emptiness  in  our  life. 
After  Violet  left  us  for  the  West,  we  abandoned  the 
board  and  the  table,  for  we  knew  that  D.  and  I  could 
not  get  any  results  with  them.  Besides,  our  "circle" 
was  broken,  and  nobody  outside  the  family,  we  felt, 
could  get  us  the  same  intimate,  convincing  reality 
which  Violet,  through  the  ties  of  blood,  but  without 
intention  on  her  part,  had  been  instrumental  in  achiev- 
ing. 

But  we  could  not  be  indifferent,  and  one  night — it 
was  September  12,  the  evening  before  Louise's  birth- 
day, and  we  were  very  blue  because  the  proximity  of 
what  had  once  been  a  festivity  awakened  thoughts  of 
other  days  and  the  plans  she  and  we  had  made  for 
her  future,  and  we  had  some  one  with  us  I  knew  had 
some  slight  power — I  suggested  we  get  out  the  little 
table  that  still  bore  the  name  of  Louise,  written  by 
her  spirit  hand. 

We  were  soon  made  to  feel  that  Louise  had  not 
left  us,  for  we  had  messages  that  while  very  simple, 
were  evidential.  However,  she  said,  she  was  alone. 
Morton  had  gone  West  with  Violet,  and  John  and  the 


THE  GUESTS  TAKE  LEAVE        227 

others  had  departed.  There  was  no  "cloud  of  wit- 
nesses around,"  and  so  far  as  phenomena  are  con- 
cerned, the  result  might  have  been  considered  a  sort 
of  anti-climax.  But  we  were  satisfied  to  be  assured 
that  our  daughter  was  still  with  us,  and  we  have  since 
had  frequent  assurance  on  the  board.  We  know  that 
while  these  further  conversations  with  her  may  not 
be  of  interest  outside  our  immediate  circle  of  friends, 
we  shall  feel  her  presence.  And  the  hope  that  "springs 
eternal"  makes  us  feel  in  our  hearts  that  some  day 
she  will  come  again  in  all  the  reality  she  established, 
as  I  have  recorded;  that  we  may  not  be  required  to 
wait  until  we  are  called  beyond  to  hear  her  voice 
again;  and  more. 

But,  "we  have  heard  what  we  have  heard  and  seen 
what  we  have  seen,"  and  only  what  we  have  heard  and 
seen  have  I  written. 

September  28,  1919. 


AFTERTHOUGHT 


AFTERTHOUGHT 

IT  seems  to  have  become  the  fashion,  particularly  in 
England,  for  an  author  who  is  unknown  to  the 
public  to  induce  a  friend  with  a  literary  reputa- 
tion to  write  an  introduction  to  a  new  book,  and  a 
suggestion   was  made  that  this   little  volume  might 
attract  more  consideration  and  perhaps  gain  a  larger 
measure  of  credence  if  it  bore  a  prefatory  note  by 
some  one  well  known  in  the  field  of  psychical  re- 
search; incidentally,  such  a  note  might  also  serve,  in* 
some  degree,  to  deflect  or  divide  unfavorable  criticism. 

But  this  is  not  a  scientific  work;  no  scientist  or 
accredited  psychical  investigator  was  concerned  in  its 
production,  and  it  pretends  to  be  nothing  more  ambi- 
tious than  a  simple  narrative  of  certain  occurrences, 
many  of  them  beyond  the  common  run  of  experience. 
It  conveys  a  message  which  was  given  the  writer 
from  sources  which  he  is  firmly  convinced  were  extra- 
human,  or  what  some  psychical  investigators  call 
"super-normal,"  and  which  he  was  instructed  to  trans- 
mit. That  message  has  brought  unlooked-for  com- 
fort to  one  bereaved  family;  it  may  help  others  who 
sorrow. 

Since  it  was  transcribed,  the  writer  has  become 
more  familiar  with  psychical  literature  than  he  was. 
More  than  two  months  after  the  book's  completion, 
having  found  no  recent  publication  in  which  the  cir- 
cumstances attendant  upon  the  processes  of  communi- 

231 


232         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

cation  described  seemed  so  remarkable  or  even  so 
unusual,  he  wrote  to  a  scientist  who  is  generally  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  foremost  of  psychical  investiga- 
tors, giving  a  brief  resume  of  his  experience.  Under 
date  of  December  24,  1919,  a  reply  came,  in  which, 
among  other  things,  the  scientist  said  that  the  matter 
obtained  "should  certainly  be  put  on  record  somehow," 
and  suggested  that  full  reports  be  furnished  the  So- 
ciety for  Psychical  Research  in  London  and  the  Amer- 
ican Society  for  Psychical  Research. 

"You  will  realize,"  the  letter  continued,  "that  a 
considerable  number  of  bereaved  people  have  had  ex- 
periences not  very  different  from  your  own,  though 
apparently  the  physical  concomitants  in  your  case  were 
more  striking  than  usual.  .  .  .  The  power,  however, 
Ts  often  sporadic  and  need  not  necessarily  continue. 
And,  so  far  as  it  interferes  with  the  health  and  well- 
being  of  the  child,  it  is  undesirable  that  it  should.  It 
is  very  satisfactory,  however,  that  your  wife  has  been 
able  to  receive  comfort  in  this  way.  You  say  quite 
rightlfy  that  love  is  the  link  and  the  motive  power  in 
such  things,  and  having  achieved  its  object  it  (the 
motive  power)  may  either  cease  or  become  very  occa- 
sional." 

But  while  an  introduction  by  a  psychical  authority 
is  lacking,  the  writer  of  this  book  realizes  that  some 
persons  may  resent  his  presumption  in  telling  of  things 
that  are  not  only  without  the  experience  of  the  great 
majority  of  people,  but  are  contrary  to  their  ideas  of 
what  is  possible,  and  that  others,  however  charitably 
disposed  they  may  be,  will  decline  to  accept  the  word 
of  an  individual  of  whom  they  have  never  heard. 
There  is  much  reason  in  both  attitudes. 

Nobody — not  even  the  most  ardent  Shavian — en- 


AFTERTHOUGHT  233 

joys  being  called  a  liar,  though  that  is  the  average 
man's  first  impulse  when  a  stranger  tells  him  some- 
thing he  does  not  believe.  One  self-styled  "polar  dis- 
coverer" heard  the  epithet  at  once.  But  another's 
statement  that  he  had  located  the  North  Pole  was  bol- 
stered up  by  his  past  reputation  for  veracity  before 
it  was  confirmed  by  scientific  calculations.  So  far  as 
one  knows,  survival  after  death  cannot  be  proven  by 
mathematics  or  astronomy,  but  the  writer  has  yielded 
to  suggestion  that  in  lieu  of  credentials  he  should  es- 
tablish, if  possible,  that  by  men  under  or  with  whom 
he  has  worked  or  been  associated  in  one  way  or  an- 
other, and  who  are  known  to  a  much  wider  circle  than 
he,  he  has  hitherto  been  considered  a  sane  and  truthful 
person;  and  that  is  his  excuse  for  presenting  the  ex- 
tracts from  letters  given  below. 

It  will  be  found  that  some  of  the  writers  of  these 
letters  are  willing  to  think  that  the  author  of  this  little 
book  is  still  fairly  sane,  and  that  while  such  may  not 
subscribe  to  the  possibility  of  spirit  communication, 
they  intimate  a  readiness  to  believe  that  the  incidents 
narrated  occurred  just  as  they  have  been  set  down. 


CHESTER  S.  LORD,  for  many  years  Managing  Editor,  New  York 
Sun:  I  am  glad  to  know  that  you  are  to  say  something  in  print. 
I  know  it  will  be  interesting  and  trustworthy  and  valuable,  for 
these  are  qualities  that  enter  into  your  productions  and  utter- 
ances of  all  sorts.  Sept.  2,  1919. 

JOHN  HAYS  HAMMOND  :  From  my  acquaintance  with  you,  and 
the  high  opinion  I  have  of  your  credibility  and  reliability,  I  cer- 
tainly would  give  credence  to  any  statement  of  fact  that  you 
would  make.  Aug.  21,  1919. 

BOOTH  TARKINGTON  :  I  know  I  shall  be  very  much  interested  in 
reading  a  book  upon  psychical  phenomena  by  you.  I  have  known 
you  for  over  ten  years,  I  think,  and  I  believe  anything  that  you 
tell  me;  also  I  cannot  imagine  you  deceiving  yourself  (or  being 
deceived  successfully  for  any  length  of  time,  by  other  people.) 
You  have  been  too  good  a  newspaper  man  to  be  credulous  or 


234         REVELATIONS  OF  LOUISE 

gullible.  What  you  have  written  will  carry  great  weight  with 
me,  and  ought  to  carry  great  weight  with  your  readers.  Sept. 
6,  1919. 

CHARLES  M.  LINCOLN,  Managing  Editor,  New  York  World:  I 
have  not  the  slightest  objection  to  stating  that  I  have  known 
you  for  twenty  years  and  that  during  that  period  I  have  always 
found  you  thoroughly  reliable.  Aug.  21,  1919. 

GEORGE  B.  MALLON,  formerly  City  Editor,  New  York  Sun:  I 
have  known  you  now  for  some  twelve  or  fourteen  years.  ...  I 
would  certainly  read  with  interest  anything  you  might  write  for 
I  know  it  would  be  based  on  your  honest  investigations.  Aug. 
21,  1919. 

ADOLPH  S.  OCHS,  Publisher,  The  New  York  Times:  Mr. 
Albert  S.  Crockett  was  for  some  time  connected  with  the 
staff  of  the  New  York  Times.  His  work  was  most  satisfactory. 
He  is  a  journalist  of  wide  experience  and  unusual  ability;  a 
cultured  and  estimable  gentleman.  August  18,  1920. 

JOHN  McE.  BOWMAN:  I  have  known  Mr.  Albert  S.  Crockett 
for  more  than  fifteen  years.  During  the  last  three  years  he  has 
been  associated  with  me  in  a  confidential  capacity,  having 
been,  during  the  War,  my  Executive  Assistant  in  the  Hotel, 
Restaurant,  Dining  Car  and  Steamship  Division  of  the  United 
States  Food  Administration.  My  confidence  in  Mr.  Crockett's 
sincerity  is  such  that  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  accept  with- 
out reservation  any  report  he  may  make  upon  an  occurrence 
of  any  kind. 

ROBERT  E.  MACALARNEY,  Associate  in  Journalism,  Columbia 
University:  I  have  read  the  manuscript  of  the  book  twice 
very  carefully.  I  am  returning  it  to  you  genuinely  impressed 
and  with  the  hope  that  it  will  be  printed. 

As  you  know  my  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  the  book  is  exact. 
I  recall  distinctly  how  these  experiences  began  and  why.  I  re- 
member also  that  not  once  when  you  discussed  them  with  me 
were  you  swept  away  by  any  feeling  that  I  could  diagnose  as 
even  undue  interest.  In  all  of  your  descriptions  of  what  oc- 
curred you  were  the  sane  and  questioning  reporter,  using  the 
news  sense  which  I  personally  happen  to  know  you  have  used 
so  successfully  in  the  field  of  journalism. 

Let  me  tell  you  that  I  have  the  utmost  belief  in  you  as  a 
truthful  narrator.  If  you  say  that  these  things  happened  in  the 
way  they  happened,  I  believe  they  happened  in  just  that  way. 
And  what  I  like  about  the  way  you  have  told  your  experiences 
is  that  there  is  no  flavor  of  wishing  to  convince  the  reader.  You 
have  merely  recited  experiences  in  which  you  have  taken  part. 
They  are  told  with  repression  and  with  simple  directness.  Feb. 
19,  1920. 


A     000  036  283     0 


